Tale of the Dark Digidestined
by Team-Claw
Summary: Piedmon decides that his only hope is to fight Digidestined with Digidestined. UPDATED! CHAPTER 12!
1. Jareth Valentine

The Tale of the Dark Digidestined  
  
By Jareth Valentine, Ann Bannon, and Hikayo Lee  
  
Disclaimer: I didn't write this myself. We're passing this project between each other, and Jareth usually takes a very long time...anyways, here's what we've gotten down so far, about a year ago. I just got their consent to post this. Hope you enjoy it, and please review!  
  
Jareth yawned loudly, turning over in his sleep. His long black hair in a messy tangle across his pillow. The light of the full moon poured in through his window, casting an oblong rectangle of silver light across his bed. The red, glowing numbers on his alarm clock read 5:23 AM. Only ten minutes ago he had retired to his bed, but already, he  
  
was dreaming.  
  
He dreamed of being pulled down a long, endless corridor. At the end of the tunnel was a strange spark...a single point that glowed with an unearthly green light. Though he was racing down the corridor at a remarkable speed, he seemed not to be nearing the light at all. He didn't know what it was, but he knew that was very important. He knew he had to reach it...but he didn't know why. Without warning, the light became brighter...much brighter. It suddenly became so bright that it hurt his eyes to look at it. It became so bright....  
  
...That it woke him up. Startled, Jareth sat up. By the light of the eerie green glow, he....wait a minute. Green light? Jareth turned toward his window. Sure enough, the same unearthly green light from his dream was pouring in through the glass. Curious, Jareth walked over and opened his window--not the most intelligent thing to do, he thought, considering he didn't know what it was. Who knew...maybe the aliens had come to take him away.  
  
"About time," He said quietly to himself , staring up at the green light. Jareth flinched as the spot of light flared, then fell from the sky like a shooting star, landing square in the middle of his back yard.  
  
Acting quickly, Jareth pulled on his boots. He didn't know what that thing was, but he sure as Hell was going to find out. He pulled on his coat and ran out through the back door, grateful that his mother wasn't home.  
  
The back yard was strangely silent, and Jareth realized that this was because the crickets in the back yard had all stopped chirping, frightened by the mysterious object. As Jareth grew nearer, he could see that it was small, about the size of a silver dollar. It was oblong and emerald green, with a circular silver screen embedded in the center. There were three small black buttons on the face, though he could not have hoped to guess what they were for. The whole thing looked like some sort of miniature computer.  
  
Jareth bent down and picked it up...and as soon as he did, the screen began to shine a brilliant, blinding white. His hand closed tightly on the small device, and he could not have released it if he had wanted to. The world began to spin, faster and faster, until he could no longer make out the scenery around him. He felt an odd sensation, as though he were being lifted off his feet, and then....it all went black.  
  
* * *  
  
Jareth was awakened rather rudely by the blinding glare of sunlight shining on his face. Indeed, there were few sensations he hated more. Scowling, he reached into his coat pocket...Yes, they were still there...and pulled out a pair of polished black sunglasses. Sliding them onto his face, Jareth sat up and looked around. He appeared to be in the middle of a forest clearing. But how had he gotten here? There were no forests anywhere near his house.  
  
Jareth got to his feet and began brushing himself off. As he did so, a voice behind him spoke, sounding both amused and menacing at the same time.  
  
"Ah, so you're finally awake."  
  
Jareth turned, and there before him stood one of the most bizarre specimens he had ever seen. It had distinctly clownish features, like the Joker on a playing card. It's--His? Clothing was all one piece, red on one side, black on the other. His face, too, was split down the middle, and he had diamonds painted over his eyes like a mime. Yet there was something in his nature that wasn't even remotely amusing. Even without the disapproving glare and the sinister smile, this...thing....emitted an air of distinct evil.  
  
Moments passed, and neither spoke; both seemed to be sizing up the other. Finally, Jareth broke the silence:  
  
"And you are....?"  
  
The creature's grin returned. "I am Piedmon."  
  
This cleared up a great deal. Jareth shrugged.  
  
Piedmon sighed. "I am Piedmon, the last of the Dark Masters."  
  
Jareth shrugged again.  
  
Piedmon scowled. This conversation clearly wasn't going the way he had intended. "Do you mean to tell me that you have never heard of me? Of the Dark Masters?"  
  
"Nope."  
  
Piedmon appeared shocked. "Never heard of me! Me! The Greatest of the Dark Masters! The most terrifying Digimon ever to grace the Digital World! This is an outrage!"  
  
Jareth watched as Piedmon began pacing, still ranting. "What are you talking about?" he asked.  
  
Piedmon stopped pacing. "What?"  
  
Jareth ticked the questions off on his fingers. "What's a Digimon? What's the Digital World? Who are the Dark Masters? If you're the last one, what happened to the others? How did I get here, and why?"  
  
Piedmon stopped pacing. "My, you have quite a few questions. If you must know, I brought you here. You..." He paused, supposedly for dramatic emphasis. "Are the Dark Digidestined."  
  
Jareth shrugged again.  
  
"How little you know. Very well, the other Dark Masters were destroyed by the Digidestined, a group of children slightly younger than you. There are eight of them, and each has a Digimon companion."  
  
"And what's--"  
  
"What's a Digimon? I am a Digimon. Most of the creatures you will encounter from now on will be Digimon. We take a variety of forms, and have several different levels of power. I am a Mega. The highest level there is."  
  
"Okay. So, you're a Digimon. The strongest level there is. You used to belong to a group called the Dark Masters, but they were destroyed by the Digidestined. You brought me here, and now I'm supposed to be the Dark Digidestined. And I supposed this," he indicated the clearing. "Is the Digital World? Have I got it all?"  
  
Piedmon nodded. "You're very intelligent, Jareth. I would be most amused to see whether you can tell me WHY I brought you here."  
  
"I assume I'm supposed to defeat the Digidestined."  
  
Piedmon's grin broadened. "VERY good! Very good indeed! So...do you think you're up to it, Jareth?"  
  
Jareth considered. `Well.....Piedmon, right?"  
  
"Correct," said Piedmon. "And this..." Piedmon gestured down towards his legs. As if on cue, a small creature hopped out from behind him.  
  
"Is Zekamon," Piedmon finished.  
  
Zekamon appeared to be little more than a hopping head. His skin..or was it fur? was a dark purple, and a pair of dark green horns sprouted from the side of it's head. It also had a severe overbite, making it look vaguely vampiric.  
  
"Hi!" Zekamon said. "Guess what? I'm going to be your partner! It'll be just me and you, versus the Digidestined! Won't that be FUN?"  
  
Zekamon's voice was shrill, and his cheerful attitude grated on Jareth's nerves. He looked back up at Piedmon.  
  
"So what's in it for me?" Jareth asked.  
  
"What?!" Piedmon asked sharply, as though enraged that anyone should demand a reward for serving him.  
  
"What's...in it...for me?" Jareth asked, more slowly. "Why should I risk my hide to kill a bunch of kids that even YOU can't handle, Mr. Highest Level There Is? What's in it for me?"  
  
Piedmon scowled again. "If you don't, I will never send you back to your own world! You will have to spend the rest of your miserable life lost in the Digital World!"  
  
"And just what makes you think I want to return?"  
  
Piedmon looked astonished. "Have you no friends? No family?"  
  
Jareth shrugged. "I haven't got a whole lot worth going back for."  
  
Piedmon scowled yet again, considering. "Well, if you will not serve me of your own free will, then I shall just have to make other arrangements. Clown trick!"  
  
As he yelled the last two words, Piedmon pointed at Jareth. A ring of whitish-yellow light flew from his hands and entered Jareth's head.  
  
The world was spinning again. Jareth's thoughts were more muddled than usual. He couldn't quite...he couldn't....spinning...spinning....  
  
He was back in the hall from his dream, and there was the green light, still shining up ahead....but as he watched, it began to change, turning from emerald green to a dark, sickly purple.....and then, he was no longer floating towards it; it was as if it had thrown him away, he was suddenly soaring in the opposite direction. As it got further and further away, the pale, unearthly light slowly faded from sight....  
  
Suddenly, he was back in the clearing. Piedmon still stood before him, grinning once more. "That's more like it," he said. "Now, then....Good luck!"  
  
Piedmon leapt into the air, and by the time Jareth looked up, he was gone.  
  
Jareth looked down at Zekamon, who was also gazing up at the sky, attempting to get one last look at Piedmon.  
  
"Well?" Jareth asked, causing Zekamon to look his way. "Are you coming or not?"  
  
Jareth turned and began to make his way through the forest, Zekamon hopping at his heels.  
  
* * *  
  
"Jareth? I'm hungry," Zekamon said, hopping as fast as he could to keep up with Jareth's long strides. The pair had been walking ever since they left Piedmon's clearing. Night had fallen, and, indeed, was almost over.  
  
Jareth sighed. Zekamon had been complaining of hunger for quite some time now, and he was beginning to feel a bit hungry himself.  
  
"If I had known I was coming, I would have packed something. Hey," Jareth said, stopping short and causing Zekamon to run headlong into the back of his legs, "maybe I have something in here...."  
  
Jareth began to dig through the pockets of his long black coat, grateful that he had remembered to put it on before leaving his house. Sure enough, inside the left-hand pocket he discovered a number of small, individually wrapped caramels.  
  
Having no table or chair to speak of, Jareth sat down right on the ground next to Zekamon and unwrapped a caramel or two. He handed one to Zekamon, who sniffed it curiously.  
  
"What....is it?"  
  
"Candy. Food. Just eat it."  
  
The words were barely out of his mouth before Zekamon snarfed up the caramel, almost taking Jareth's fingers with it.  
  
Jareth enjoyed a few blissful moments of silence while the caramel most effectively glued Zekamon's mouth shut.  
  
Swallowing his, Jareth stood and brushed his hands on his already filthy black jeans. "Well," Jareth said. "I don't know about you, but I'm getting pretty tired. It'll be dawn soon."  
  
Zekamon nodded, but was knocked over in mid-yawn. Jareth, too, was thrown off his feet as the earth beneath him yawned open. A large silver drill had split the ground, and a very strange creature was attached to the other end.  
  
It looked like an extremely large purple mole, but with the sharp drill where it's nose belonged.  
  
"Drimogemon!" Zekamon yelled.  
  
"What?!" Jareth asked.  
  
"Drimogemon! A champion-level Digimon. He usually dwells underground. What's he doing here?"  
  
Zekamon gulped as Drimogemon loomed up over them, his drill spinning at an impressive speed.  
  
Jareth's eyes searched the ground, looking for a weapon. His gaze fell on a convenient rock, and, not having a better idea, he seized it and threw it at Drimogemon with all his might.  
  
The rock bounced off Drimogemon's hide and fell to the ground with a thud.  
  
"He's a Champion-level Digimon!" Zekamon exclaimed again. "You can't hurt him with a ROCK!"  
  
"Well, do you have a better idea?"  
  
Jareth and Zekamon leapt back in different directions as Drimogemon's paw fell to the ground between them with a heavy thud.  
  
"Bubble-blow!" Zekamon spit a stream of small bubbles at the larger Digimon. The bubbles struck home, each one causing a small explosion on contact, but Drimogemon appeared not to have even felt it.  
  
Drimogemon swiped at Zekamon with his paw, knocking the small purple head against a nearby tree, and nearly knocking him unconscious. The large mole-like creature then turned to Jareth and started to advance menacingly.  
  
"Ummm...Hi," Jareth said. "I'm Jareth. You're...Drimogemon, right? Nice to meet you."  
  
Drimogemon didn't seem to want to chat.  
  
"Riiight...Ummm...Zekamon? Little help?"  
  
Zekamon groaned and tried to right himself, but only managed to roll a few feet.  
  
Drimogemon, meeting no resistance, raised his paw and prepared to strike....  
  
Without warning, the small device attached to Jareth's belt began to glow. As it did, Zekamon, too, began to glow, as if he had swallowed a flashlight. Jareth shielded his eyes against the light, but it was bright enough to be seen even through his hand. The light continued to shine, brighter and brighter until....  
  
"Zekamon, Digivolve to....VENOMON!"  
  
Jareth removed his hand from his eyes. Zekamon was gone. In his place stood a creature that appeared to be a small dinosaur. It stood nearly three feet tall on it's powerful-looking hind legs, and was covered from head to toe in fuzzy green fur. It had a short, stumpy tail that was tipped at the end by a short, curved, purple spike. Two wispy, featherlike antennae sprouted from the back of his head, reaching all the way back to his tail. His arms were very broad, almost like wings, and were covered by purple V-shaped markings. Three curved black claws adorned each arm, and a short golden horn protruded from his forehead.  
  
"Venomon?" Jareth asked, confused.  
  
Distracted, Drimogemon turned to face Venomon. Instead of the terrified look he had worn as Zekamon, Venomon face now displayed a look of grim determination. Spreading his arms, Venomon confirmed what Jareth had suspected: they did indeed function as wings.  
  
Venomon hovered, ducking in and out of range, teasing Drimogemon and just generally having fun. Finally, when he decided he'd had enough fun, Venomon came to rest on the branch of a nearby tree. He leveled his golden horn at the larger Digimon, and shouted: "Stardust Ray!"  
  
A steady beam of golden light emanated from his horn, forcing Drimogemon back. Finally, Drimogemon stumbled and fell over backwards into the very hole he had crawled out of.  
  
Venomon fluttered back to the ground. Below them, they could hear Drimogemon rumbling off, presumably in search of easier prey. Venomon shot Jareth a weak smile, then collapsed. Jareth leapt forward, barely catching him in time.  
  
"Venomon! Are you okay?"  
  
Venomon replied in a feeble voice. "Do you have any more of that candy?"  
  
Jareth grinned. "Sure, pal. As much as you want."  
  
At that point, a peal of thunder split the air, and heavy rain began to pour from the sky.  
  
* * *  
  
Biyomon gazed at the forest around her, looking for something that would suit her purpose. Behind her, Sora searched through the underbrush, intent on the same task. It was their turn to break off from the group to search for firewood, but so far they hadn't had any luck. There wasn't much dead wood around, no fallen limbs, not so much as a twig. It didn't help that it had rained the night before.  
  
The small, pink, bird-like Digimon flapped her wing-like arms and rose into the branches of a nearby tree. After all, they didn't call it a bird's-eye view for nothing. Biyomon gazed around, hoping to spot some wood that hadn't been soaked by the rain. Finally, she spotted something: A fallen tree that seemed relatively dry, having been sheltered by the trees surrounding it.  
  
"Sora! Sora! I think I found something!" she called.  
  
Sora's head poked up from out of the bushes. "Where?"  
  
"Over here! Follow me!" with that, Biyomon swooped down from the limb towards the fallen tree.  
  
It wasn't until they reached the tree that they noticed the small black form lying crumpled against it. Closer examination revealed it to be...a person?  
  
Sora bent over and poked the slumbering teenager, who woke with a start. He immediately leapt to his feet, looking around wildly.  
  
"Woah! Calm down," Sora said. "I'm Sora. This is Biyomon. What's your name?"  
  
The black-clothed boy blinked, pulling a pair of sunglasses from his pocket and slipping them on. "Jareth...my name is Jareth. And this is...wait...Venomon! Where are you?"  
  
Jareth began to wander around the area, apparently searching for something.  
  
"What are you looking for?" Sora asked.  
  
"Him," Jareth said, pointing to the branches of a nearby tree. A small, green, dinosaur-ish Digimon was burled up amongst the boughs, sound asleep. "Venomon! Wake up!"  
  
Venomon rolled over so that he was facing the trunk of the tree, muttering something that sounded like "Mimblewimble."  
  
"Oh, forget it."  
  
"You know, you're the first Human I've seen since coming to the Digital world," Sora said. "You...ARE human, aren't you?"  
  
Jareth laughed. "Well....sort of."  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"I don't like most humans, but I'm too conceited to not like myself, so I don't consider myself one of them. But yes, technically, I am a human. Does that make any sense at all?"  
  
Sora looked at Jareth as if she expected a bird to leap out of his forehead on a small spring.  
  
"I guess not," Jareth sighed.  
  
Suddenly, a loud thud, followed by a squawk, came from behind them. Jareth spun around to see what it had been, but Sora just laughed.  
  
Venomon had fallen out of his tree. He now sat on the ground, looking around as if he was hoping to see what had hit him. "What happened?" he asked.  
  
"Gravity," Jareth answered.  
  
"And who...who are they?" Venomon had noticed Sora and Biyomon.  
  
Jareth turned back to his new acquaintances. "Oh, this is Sora and Biyomon. They're..."  
  
But Venomon was no longer listening. "Ummm....right. Jareth? Can I talk to you?"  
  
* * *  
  
"What do you mean, they're the Digidestined?"  
  
"That's them! Or at least two of them." Venomon peeked around from behind the tree, where the pair had retreated to talk. "I have no idea where the rest could be."  
  
"You have got to be kidding me! How could those two be the Digidestined?"  
  
"Piedmon told me all about them! I'm telling you, that's HER!"  
  
"No way!"  
  
Venomon flapped his arms and flew up to stand on a low branch, so as to see Jareth eye- to-eye. "Don't believe me? Take a look at her belt."  
  
Jareth took another look at Sora. Unfortunately, he didn't have the best eyes. He couldn't see what...wait....yes! He saw it. Sure enough, a small device was attached to her belt. Identical to his own, except for the color, the presence of Sora's Digivice was proof that Venomon was right.  
  
"Looks like you're right."  
  
Venomon looked smug. "I'm always right."  
  
Jareth scowled at the green-furred digimon. "Why couldn't you have been right BEFORE I went and made friends with the girl?"  
  
"Well, what were you thinking, making friends with a human? The only humans who can even get to the Digital World are the Digidestined."  
  
Jareth sighed.  
  
"Now," Venomon said, hopping off the branch, "Let's go kill them."  
  
* * *  
  
"Stardust ray!"  
  
Biyomon dived as Venomon's attack shot straight towards her. She couldn't believe it-- not five minutes ago, these two had been their friends. Now they were being attacked. Venomon had dived at her as soon as he and his friend emerged from the trees...and who knew what Jareth was doing to Sora.  
  
The beam of golden light continued past her, punching a neat,  
  
cauterized hole through the tree behind Biyomon.  
  
She's fast, Venomon thought, flying still higher into the air, but I'm faster. Venomon dived at the pink-feathered bird, hoping to skewer her on his horn, but she dodged again....WHAM! Leaving him stuck to the tree, his short golden horn embedded in the trunk. Maybe not, he thought miserably.  
  
"Spiral Twister!" Biyomon's attack swirled downward, directly towards the helpless Venomon. Or so he thought. Actually, the spiraling green fire struck the trunk of the tree, splintering it just below the point where Venomon was stranded. The entire top half of the tree began to tilt, the wood splintering further. The tree was going to fall...and Venomon was still stuck to it! Venomon pushed against the truck, trying to free his horn. As the tree fell further, picking up momentum, Venomon started to panic.  
  
"Stardust ray!" The Energy of his attack was enough to free his horn, sending him flying backward through the air. Once he had righted himself, he looked around. Biyomon seemed to have disappeared.  
  
Without warning, something very heavy slammed into him from behind.  
  
Something heavy....with talons.  
  
"Why are you attacking us? What did we do?"  
  
Venomon spun in midair, knocking Biyomon away. The two faced each other, both flapping hard to stay airborne, exhausted.  
  
"You didn't do anything. Not to us, anyway."  
  
"Then why are you trying to hurt us?"  
  
"Because he told us to."  
  
"Because who--"  
  
"Are you going to fight back or not? Stardust ray!"  
  
"Spiral Twister!"  
  
What happened next would have been funny if it hadn't been so painful. Venomon's tight beam of golden energy flew straight down the center of Biyomon's spiraling ribbon of green fire, and both attacks connected. The two wounded Digimon fell from the sky, crashing through the canopy to the clearing below.  
  
* * *  
  
"Biyomon! Biyomon!" Sora had been yelling since Biyomon and Venomon had taken to the skies, and Jareth was beginning to get annoyed. He sat in the branches of nearby trees, also watching the skies. Venomon would be returning any moment now, probably carrying Biyomon's corpse. After that....would they have to kill the girl? After all, how much harm could the human possibly be without the Digimon? But no point worrying about that now; he'd burn that bridge when he came to it.  
  
"Biyomon!"  
  
"Will you stop YELLING?"  
  
Sora turned angrily on Jareth. "You! This is all your fault! Why is you're stupid lizard attacking Biyomon?" Sora marched over to Jareth's tree and began shaking it, trying to dislodge him.  
  
Jareth leapt nimbly from the tree, landing behind Sora. "Because he's supposed to."  
  
"What's that supposed to--" Sora stopped in mid-sentence, staring slack-jawed at the sky over Jareth's shoulder. Without another word, she went tearing off through the forest.  
  
Jareth looked into the air....and froze. Two forms, one pink, one green were falling from the sky, their devastating impact imminent. Jareth didn't need to see any more. He went racing off through the woods, just as Sora had done.  
  
* * *  
  
"Gotcha!" Sora leapt into the air, catching Biyomon as she fell. Biyomon's extra weight threw her off-balance as she landed, and she twisted her ankle coming back to the ground. "Owww!"  
  
"Sor..a?" Biyomon opened one bleary eye. "Are you okay? Did that boy...did he hurt you?"---  
  
"I'm fine how about yo--"  
  
CRASH!  
  
A small green form crashed down through the trees, landing in a thorny bush and cutting Sora off mid-sentence. Moments later, Jareth came running into the clearing.  
  
"Venomon! Where are you? Are you okay?"  
  
A faint rustling came from the bush.  
  
"Yeah....never...better...Owww...." Complaining loudly, Venomon emerged from the underbrush, covered head to toe in scratches.  
  
"Sorry I'm late," Jareth said contritely.  
  
"Maybe that'll teach you not to mess with the Digidestined!" Sora yelled.  
  
This was not a good time to insult Venomon. He was sore, stiff, cranky....and angry.  
  
"Maybe this will teach you to keep your mouth shut! Stardust Ray!"  
  
Venomon's aim was true, and his attack severed a large branch from the tree just above Sora. The branch began to fall...and it was large enough to crush the human girl.  
  
"Sora! Look out!" Biyomon yelled.  
  
There was a flash of pink light, and before anyone knew it, Sora's Digivice was activated.  
  
"Biyomon, Digivolve to.......BIRDRAMON!"  
  
Biyomon was gone. In her place was Birdramon, a large bird with flaming wings and a beak full of wicked-looking fangs. Birdramon covered Sora with her wing, and the branch fell harmlessly against it. The large bird then glared balefully at Venomon.  
  
"Uh-oh...," the small green Digimon said.  
  
Birdramon screeched, smashing her talon against the ground, just missing Venomon. Venomon was fast, and being so much smaller made his job easier, but he was still sore and tired from his battle with Biyomon, and he was finding it difficult to dodge Birdramon's attacks. The large flaming bird snapped her beak at him, this time coming away with a few green hairs in her mouth.  
  
Jareth watched this, but there wasn't much he could do. Birdramon's attacks were getting more accurate, and he was pretty sure she would come up next time with one of Venomon's arms.  
  
Venomon stumbled. Before he could recover, Birdramon's talons began to fall, headed right for his torso....  
  
The small green Digimon was surprised to be struck from another angle. Hit from the side, he rolled across the clearing. Shaking his head and looking around, he saw what had hit him: Jareth. Three great slashes on his arm bled freely where Birdramon's claws had shredded his flesh. He lay on the ground, clutching his arm and glaring defiantly into  
  
Birdramon's surprised face, his long hair tangled and matted where his head has struck the ground.  
  
In Venomon's eyes, the entire clearing began to swim red. The pain and stiffness vanished from his body. He wasn't tired anymore. Just angry. Very angry. So angry he didn't notice when Jareth's Digivice began to glow. All he could think about was hurting Birdramon, destroying the flaming demon that had the nerve to hurt his friend. He could hear his blood pounding in his ears, and above that....he could hear a strange, high-pitched hum.....one that he had heard only once before....and he remembered what it meant.  
  
"Venomon, Digivolve to.....Ravemon!"  
  
Venomon had been replaced by something that bore almost no resemblance to the small, green, lizard-like creature that he once was. He now looked like a large lion with fur black as the night sky, and a mane that shone a fiery gold. A pair of wings, covered in ebony feathers, grew from his back. His tail was tipped by two wicked curved spines. He still had the golden horn on his forehead, but it was no longer smooth. A deep, spiral groove now ran along it's length.  
  
Surprised, Birdramon reared back, flapping her wings. Knowing that she was Ravemon's target, the flaming bird took to the sky, crashing through the branches overhead. Ravemon followed, letting out an ear-splitting roar.  
  
"Meteor Wing!" Birdramon flapped her wings, releasing a shower of fireballs down on Ravemon's head, but he shook them off.  
  
"Feather Edge!" In answer, Ravemon flapped his own wings. A flurry of black feathers fell, but before they had fallen far, every one turned and flew directly towards Birdramon.  
  
Birdramon screamed in pain as the razor-sharp feathers shredded her flesh. Going into a tailspin, she fell towards the trees below.with a sickening CRUNCH! Birdramon collided with the forest, sliding along the ground and knocking over trees as she went. Once she stopped, the massive bird began to glow. Shrinking in size, the glowing silhouette faded--she was Biyomon once more.  
  
The unconscious Digimon was awakened by a strange whirring sound. Opening her eyes, she saw what is possibly the worst sight in the world to wake up to: Ravemon. The large black lion was standing in the long, barren trench she had created in landing. His horn was spinning rapidly, it looked capable of piercing solid steel if need be.  
  
"Horn drill!" he yelled, his deep leonine voice echoed. Slowly, slowly, he advanced, lowering his horn as he went.  
  
----Digimon Analyzer---  
  
Zekkamon  
  
In-Training  
  
Virus Type  
  
Micro Digimon  
  
Attack: Bubble Blow  
  
Not much can be said of him now, but this little guy's much tougher than you might think!  
  
Venomon  
  
Rookie  
  
Virus Type  
  
Reptile Digimon  
  
Attack: Stardust Ray  
  
He's an aggressive little Digimon, and he'll never give up a fight, even if he can't win!  
  
Ravemon  
  
Champion  
  
Virus Type  
  
Animal Digimon  
  
Attack: Feather Edge, Horn Drill  
  
He's the undisputed King of the Skies! His Feather Edge and Horn Drill attacks are a deadly combination. 


	2. The Crest of Insanity

The whirring sound of Ravemon's drill sent shivers up Biyomon's spine. She tried to inch backwards, away from the large menacing Digimon, but she was too badly injured, her wings would not support her.  
  
Ravemon's horn was now inches from Biyomon's torso. A little more, and her blood would spill. Just a little more....  
  
"Nova Blast!"  
  
Nonoseconds before Ravemon accomplished his goal, a massive fireball slammed into his left side, knocking him a good twenty feet away from Biyomon. Ravemon shook his mane, trying to clear his head. It soon became clear what had hit him. A large orange dinosaur loomed over him, a gray, horned shell of bone covering his head. Sparks flickered at his lips as he prepared to attack again.  
  
On his shoulder stood a human child, slightly younger than Jareth. He was wearing tan, baggy pants and a blue shirt, with yellow stars on his shoulders. A pair of stylish goggles sat on a blue sweatband atop his head.  
  
"Great shot, Greymon! Hit it again!"  
  
Greymon obliged. "Nova Blast!"  
  
Ravemon quickly leapt to the side, dodging the massive ball of flames. The trees behind him exploded as the gasses within them were instantly superheated.  
  
"Feather Edge!" Ravemon's attack flew rapidly toward Greymon, and he wasn't nearly as agile as his opponent. The black, razor-sharp feathers sliced into the large reptilian Digimon, and he roared in pain.  
  
"Horn Drill!" His drill spinning, Ravemon leapt at Greymon. Greymon sidestepped just in time to avoid being ventilated. He was too slow, however, to avoid the attack altogether. Ravemon's horn tore the flesh of Greymon's left leg, causing him to stumble. Greymon turned backtoward Ravemon, who was preparing for another strike. The large dinosaur reared back for another Nova Blast....only to be brought to his knees by a fresh wave of agony from his injured leg.  
  
Seeing his opportunity, Ravemon rushed at Greymon, knocking him over with a powerful tackle. Greymon fell, dropping the human from his shoulder as he did. Just as Birdramon did before him, Greymon glowed and shrank back to his previous stage--a small, tan-skinned lizard.  
  
"Agumon!" The human who had been sitting on Greymon's shoulder ran over to the Agumon and threw his arms around him. "Are you okay?"  
  
"I'm fine, Tai. Where are the others?"  
  
Tai looked around desperately. "They should have been here by now."  
  
"Where are the others. Exactly what I was wondering." Ravemon advanced on the two small creatures...but as he did, he stumbled. The fight had taken more out of him than he'd thought. His fur was blackened on one side from Greymon's fireballs, and singed in several more by Birdramon's meteors. He hoped neither of the Digidestined in front of him had noticed him stumble.  
  
As it happened, neither had. Unfortunately, someone else did. From the forest to Ravemon's left emerged a number of small creatures: three humans, a Tentomon, a Gatomon, and a Patamon. The rest of the Digidestined?  
  
One of the smaller humans, the one with the green helmet, leapt out in front of Tai and Agumon, spreading his arms to defend them.  
  
"You leave them alone!" he said. The Patamon flew over and landed on his helmet, and stood glaring at Ravemon.  
  
"T.K., be careful! This guy's tough!" Tai said.  
  
"Relax, Tai," said one of the other humans, the one with spiky reddish-brown hair and a strange yellow box on it's back. "We've got this covered. Right, Tentomon?"  
  
"That's right!"  
  
The Tentomon flew straight toward Ravemon. Ravemon thought for a moment that it had lost it's mind, attacking something so much larger than itself, but then he heard a familiar high- pitched whine...a whine that seemed to be coming from the spiky-haired human.  
  
"Tentomon, Digivolve to....KABUTERIMON!"  
  
In the small Tentomon's place, there now stood a massive insectoid Digimon. It's skin was a dull gray, and it looked almost skeletal.  
  
Kabuterimon took to the skies, hovering directly above Ravemon. It folded all six of it's limbs in close to it's body, forming a large ball of energy.  
  
"Electro-Shocker!" The large insect released his attack, to quickly for Ravemon to dodge. The large black lion caught the full force of the electricity, and fell to his knees.  
  
"You're beaten, whoever you are," Tai said, getting to his feet. "Now, would you mind telling us why you attacked us?"  
  
Ravemon merely growled.  
  
"You sorry excuse for a feline!" Gatomon yelled. "I should declaw you myself!"  
  
Tai advanced past T.K., taking a few steps towards Ravemon. "Who sent you? Do you work for Piedmon?"  
  
"No," came a voice from behind them. "He works for me."  
  
Tai spun around to meet this new challenge, as did T.K. and the other two Digidestined. Kabuterimon, still buzzing overhead, turned also.  
  
Leaping from an overhead branch, Jareth's black clothed figure appeared in the clearing.  
  
"Jareth Valentine," he said, making a low, elaborate bow, "At your service."  
  
Ravemon breathed a sigh of relief.  
  
"You sent this thing to attack us?" T.K. asked, incredulous.  
  
"Actually, he was only out to get the bird." Jareth gestured to the still injured Biyomon, who was only now regaining consciousness. "The rest of you just sort of showed up."  
  
"Biyomon?" The spiky-haired one asked. "Then where's Sora?"  
  
Jareth looked guilty. "I...already....took care of her."  
  
Tai suddenly looked furious. "If you've hurt Sora, I'll-" Tai took one angry step towards Jareth.  
  
Ravemon roared, shocking everyone. He leapt almost vertically, straight up, hitting Kabuterimon on one side. Kabuterimon was knocked off-balance; the wings on one side of him caught against the trees and he fell to the ground. Before he could react, Ravemon landed on top of him, pinning him to the ground. Injured, Kabuterimon returned to his Tentomon form, still pinned down by Ravemon's gigantic leonine paw.  
  
"You touch Jareth, and I'll swat this Digimon like the fly he is," Ravemon growled.  
  
Gatomon leapt at Ravemon-- "Lightning Claw!"--only to be struck down by a swipe of his mammoth paw.  
  
"Patamon, it's your turn now!" T.K. said, looking up at the small brown creature sitting on his helmet.  
  
"Right, T.K.!"  
  
Flapping the batlike wings that were his ears, Patamon began to fly at Ravemon, the familiar whine of the Digivice already sounding throughout the clearing.  
  
"Patamon, Digivolve to....ANGEMON!"  
  
In Patamon's place there now stood Angemon, a white-skinned, six-winged angel. His head was covered by a shining silver helmet, and he appeared to have no eyes. In his right hand he held a long golden staff, and he seemed to be covered with leather straps and shining gold relics.  
  
It was remarkable how something with no eyes could glare so evilly at anyone.  
  
* * *  
  
Sora woke up, and immediately wished that she hadn't. Her skull was throbbing...most likely a result of the large knot on her head. She tried to rub the sore spot, but found that she couldn't; her arms seemed to be stuck. A moment later she realized why--she was tied to a tree.  
  
Sora was confused, but she didn't know if it was a result of the concussion or the situation. Why hadn't Jareth killed her? He'd certainly had the chance, and that seemed to be his goal. Or maybe he'd only been out to kill Biyomon.  
  
Biyomon! What had happened to Biyomon? Where was she? Was she okay? Had he hurt her?  
  
Sora struggled to free herself, straining as hard as she could against the vines that held her to the tree. She was astounded when they actually loosened, freeing her. Curious, she examined the vines.  
  
"A slip knot?"  
  
* * *  
  
"Hand of Fate!"  
  
Angemon punched the air, firing a powerful beam of golden light at the already weakened Ravemon. Ravemon took the hit, and went rolling head over heels backwards from the force of the blow. Angemon descended from the sky to Ravemon's level.  
  
"Horn Drill!" Ravemon lunged at Angemon, intending to pierce him with his drill, but Angemon simply rose higher into the air, evading the attack.  
  
"Feather Edge!" Ravemon fired another barrage of sharp-edged feathers, but Angemon simply deflected them with a twirl of his staff.  
  
"Hand of Fate!" Angemon's attack struck home once more, this time blasting Ravemon into the nearest tree.  
  
Ravemon shook his head. He couldn't take much more of this. Angemon's's attacks were much too strong for him, especially afer the beating he'd already taken from th others. But maybe he could still win this somehow. But how?  
  
Angemon flew lower, looming threateningly over Ravemon's head. He swung his staff, preparing to throw it....  
  
Ravemon got an idea. Spreading his wings, Ravemon flew in a beeline at Angemon. As soon as he was close enough, he snatched Angemon's staff in his mouth, wrenched it from his grip, and turned, midair, to face him.  
  
"Give that back!" Angemon said in a threatening tone of voice.  
  
"Well," Ravemon said, his mouth full of metal, "Since you asked so nicely....." The ebony lion tossed his head, hurling the golden staff back at it's owner.  
  
The staff his the side of Angemon's armored head with a resounding CLANG! While Angemon was off-balance, Ravemon dived at him again, horn first.  
  
"Horn Drill!"  
  
This time, the angelic Digimon was unable to dodge in time. Ravemon's drill pierced his left arm and a shower of golden blood splashed down upon the forest below. Angemon screamed in pain, and instinctively counter-attacked--"Hand of Fate!"--before reverting to Patamon, and fluttering like a wounded sparrow back to the forest floor.  
  
For the third time in a row, Hand of Fate struck Ravemon dead on. But this time, Ravemon wasn't able to shake it off. As the blast of holy light hit him, he began to fall.....falling, glowing, shrinking....Venomon once more. And, as Venomon, he fell.  
  
* * *  
  
Jareth caught Venomon this time. While all eyes had been on the airborne battle, Jareth had climbed one of the nearby trees. Running through the branches, Jareth managed to find a spot where he could not only catch Venomon, but could also escape from the Digidestined. And unlike Sora, he managed to land without breaking anything.  
  
"Venomon? You okay, buddy?"  
  
"Sure...I...won, didn't I?"  
  
"Actually...no. We lost."  
  
"We...lost? But we're still alive."  
  
Jareth leapt down from the tree and laid Venomon down on the ground. "Just because we survived, that doesn't mean we won. We retreated."  
  
"We ran away?"  
  
Jareth scowled. "I prefer retreated. And anyway, you didn't run anywhere. I did."  
  
"Either way. We failed. We failed Piedmon."  
  
Jareth grinned. "We haven't failed him yet. We can always try again later. Once you're feeling better."  
  
Venomon struggled to sit up. "That won't be long. Digimon heal fast. But how am I supposed to win against all of them? Especially that Angemon? He's strong, Jareth. Really strong."  
  
"So are you. You took down three Champion-level Digimon, all by yourself. Come on, lighten up. Yesterday you were optimistic to the point of absurdity."  
  
Venomon smiled. "Hey, I know what'll cheer me up. Let's go kill that  
  
Digidestined girl! Did you tie her to the tree, like we planned?"  
  
"Yup. She's right over--" Jareth stopped abruptly.  
  
"What? What is--" Then Venomon saw.No one was there; the vines lay coiled loosely around the tree trunk. "She escaped."  
  
"Apparently so."  
  
"Well, let's go after her! She can't have gotten fa--"  
  
"You're not going anywhere until you can stand on you own feet again."  
  
"But we can't stay here! They'll be looking for us."  
  
Jareth sighed. "So I'll carry you. Here. Have another caramel. You've earned it."  
  
**************************************************  
  
From his vantage point in the treetops, Jareth peered down at the group of children beneath him. Seated on the branch next to him, Venomon followed his gaze.  
  
"What are they up to?" Venomon asked.  
  
"I can't really see them very well. Bad eyes."  
  
Venomon started fuming. "Ooh! That Angemon! If I ever get my claws on him-"  
  
"You'll get your ass kicked, just like before. He's too strong."  
  
Venomon shot Jareth an insulted look. "I was just worn out! I'd already taken down everyone else. Come on, let's go back down there and finish them."  
  
"We need a plan, Venomon. We can't just dive in and attack."  
  
"I don't care! I want to pay Angemon back for shooting me down! I want to--"  
  
"Wait."  
  
Venomon paused. "What?"  
  
"Look at the direction they're heading."  
  
Venomon did a quick double-take. "What? They're just-" The small green Digimon stopped short.  
  
"I love that look of dawning comprehension. Yes, they're headed for Spiral Mountain."  
  
"Where Piedmon is. We've got to stop them!"  
  
"Any ideas?"  
  
"Dive in and attack?"  
  
"Any GOOD ideas?"  
  
There was a pause.  
  
"Must I do EVERYTHING?" The loud voice from behind them made both Jareth and Venomon jump. The spun around, Jareth nearly falling out of the tree and Venomon flapping his wings to balance himself.  
  
There stood Piedmon, floating in midair and sneering at them unpleasantly.  
  
"Lord Piedmon!" Venomon said, trying to sound innocent. "What brings you--"  
  
"Silence!" Venomon stopped mid-sentence. "I chose you, I created you to destroy these meddlesome children, but it seems you are not capable of even that."  
  
"We're outnumbered and outgunned, clown," Jareth said.  
  
Piedmon scowled. Even brainwashed, the human had an attitude. "I don't want to hear any excuses." Piedmon hovered closer to Jareth and his terrified Digimon. "I thought you were supposed to be intelligent. You cannot even destroy a pack of school children."  
  
"Neither could you."  
  
"I said SILENCE! Clown Trick!" Piedmon threw a ball of golden light at Jareth, knocking him off the branch. The Dark Digidestined fell through the branches, tearing skin and clothes before finally hitting the ground with a sickening THUD.  
  
"Jareth!" Venomon spread his wings and flew to the ground, landing beside the fallen teenager. He nudged Jareth with his foot. "Jareth? Jareth! Speak to me!"  
  
Jareth groaned. He tried to sit up and instantly regretted it. The forest was spinning dizzily around him.  
  
Piedmon descended from the canopy, coming to rest a few feet from the ground in front of his injured prodigy.  
  
"You are incompetent. But I will forgive you, this once. I will even help you." The demonic jester reached into his suit and drew forth a small object, and threw it to the ground.  
  
Jareth managed to sit up this time. He picked up the trinket and blinked madly, trying to bring it into focus.  
  
It appeared to be some sort of pendant. It was shaped like an 8-sided crystal, with a small rectangular window set into the front. A small symbol showed through the window. It was shaped like an hourglass, framed on either side by a pair of outward-facing crescent moons.  
  
"What...is it?"  
  
"It is a crest. Each of the Digidestined has a crest, depicting their greatest character trait, such as the Crest of Courage. It enables their Digimon to Digivolve past Champion, to reach the Ultimate level."  
  
Jareth shook his head, still groggy. "So..what's mine? The crest of...?"  
  
"Yours is the Crest of..." Piedmon paused. "...Insanity."  
  
Jareth held the necklace up to the light. "Insanity," he said. He slipped the necklace on and concealed it beneath his sweater. He looked back up at Piedmon, still seeing three of him. "Thank you."  
  
"I'm not finished," Piedmon said. "You complained that you were....outnumbered? I believe we can solve that." Piedmon waved his hand, and the likenesses of two more people appeared next to him. They seemed to be few years younger than Jareth, about the same age as most of the Digidestined. One was a male, one female...but both were only an illusion.  
  
"These are Ann and Hikayo. They will be joining you." Piedmon glanced down at Venomon. "They will have Digimon partners, just as you do." Piedmon pointed to the top of a nearby mountain, smaller than the others, but still tall enough that it's peak was shrouded in mist. "I will summon the girl first. Go to the top of that mountain and wait for her. Once she joins you, I want you to seek out these two." Piedmon threw two more objects to the ground in front of Jareth. This time they were photographs, one of a tall skinny boy with glasses, the other of a blond girl with a goofy hat.  
  
"More Digidestined?"  
  
"I told you there were eight."  
  
"Didn't you notice a few were missing?" Venomon asked.  
  
"Math is not my best subject. I still only count seven."  
  
"The eighth is currently wandering the Digital World, trying to find some meaning to his pathetic existence." Piedmon waved his hand dismissively. "You can deal with him later. For now, venture to the top of the mountain, and wait for the girl."  
  
Jareth managed to get to his feet, rocking unsteadily. "You're the boss, clown." Jareth held out his Digivice.  
  
"Venomon, Digivolve to....Ravemon!" In an eyeblink, Venomon had once again become the great, winged black lion. "Hop on, Jareth!"  
  
Jareth clumsily mounted Ravemon's back, trying to find a place he could hang on without pulling out any feathers.  
  
As soon as Ravemon thought Jareth had a decent hold, he spread his ebony wings and took to the skies, soaring towards the mountaintop where they would finally, hopefully, meet a new ally. 


	3. Angemon vs Darkangemon

"Hey, look!" Tai pointed at the sky. "There he goes! That lion thing!"  
  
"Ravemon," Agumon said.  
  
"Right. We should go after him!"  
  
"How?" Agumon asked. He gestured to the Digidestined around him, almost all still injured.  
  
"I'll go!" Patamon said. "I owe him one, the flea-bitten feline!"  
  
"Are you sure you're up to it, Patamon?" Tai asked, concerned.  
  
"You bet! Let me go!"  
  
T.K. nodded in agreement. "Yeah, Tai! Let Patamon and me take him down!"  
  
"Okay. Go for it."  
  
"Patamon, Digivolve to...ANGEMON!"  
  
"Wait, Tai. Are you sure this is a good idea?" Sora asked.  
  
"Of course. Angemon took him down last time." Tai turned back to Angemon, who was hovering in the center of the camp. "Go get `im, Angemon."  
  
Without another word, Angemon took to the skies, headed strait for Ravemon.  
  
* * *  
  
"Are we there yet?" Jareth complained. The flight was turning out to be much longer than he had thought. Not that he didn't enjoy flying--quite the contrary. The wind rushing through his long hair, the view were breathtaking. He just wanted to get to the mountain and meet his new partners, that was all.  
  
"Not yet," Ravemon replied. "But it's not much farth--"  
  
"Hand of Fate!"  
  
Ravemon almost didn't dodge in time. Indeed, the blast singed some of the fur from his right flank. He turned midair to face his foe.  
  
"Surrender, Ravemon! Give up, or I'll be forced to--"  
  
"Feather Edge!  
  
Angemon easily dodged the spray of ebony feathers. "Very well," he said. Have it your way. Angel Rod!"  
  
Angemon threw his golden staff at Ravemon, catching him square across the nose. Ravemon tumbled, spilling Jareth from his back as he did. The Dark Digidestined fell, cartwheeling through the air.  
  
"Jareth!" Ravemon called. The winged lion stooped, but before he could dive after his partner, Angemon fetched him another sharp whack with his staff.  
  
Jareth fell faster and faster, his eyes clenched shut. His thought spun faster than he did, and strangely enough, he wasn't scared in the least....this was just another sort of flying, that was all. Of course, it wouldn't last long...but it wouldn't hurt for long, either. And as for after he fell...well, what did he care? All his problems would be over. But...Piedmon. What about Piedmon? If he failed, the dark Master would probably take his anger out on poor Venomon. Worse yet, without him, what chance would Ravemon have against Angemon? No, he couldn't give up. He had to find some way out of this one, some way to help...but how?  
  
The Crest around his neck began to glow.  
  
* * *  
  
Ravemon shook his head, trying to recover from the force of Angemon's blow. Jareth was falling, he had to save him...but that stubborn angel wouldn't give him the chance! What was with him? He was supposed to be one of the good guys, how could he just let someone fall to his death?  
  
Suddenly, Ravemon began to feel strange, as though ants were crawling beneath his skin. His mane began to stand on end, and a strange, throbbing hum began to fill the air. Angemon, too, felt it; he backed off a bit, confused.  
  
"Ravemon, Digivolve to..."  
  
Ravemon's entire form changed. He reared back to stand on his hind legs, which became encased in emerald green armor. His two ebony wings split into no less than eight, all of which fanned out behind him, catching the wind. His muzzle squashed down to become a humanoid face, although something of the feline lingered about the shape of the nose and eyes. His torso, too, became covered in green armor, and a helmet appeared on his head, a mockery of Angemon's own headgear. Unlike Angemon, however, his face was visible, and his horn still protruded through a hole in the forehead. From the sky, a fork of lightning fired down at him. Raising his hand, he caught it deftly--and it changed form, becoming a curved, wicked-looking scythe.  
  
"....DARKANGEMON!" He roared, swinging the scythe in a stunning array of dexterity.  
  
Angemon was speechless. For all his shock, he recovered quickly, swinging his own staff in response.  
  
Darkangemon dived, faster than the eye could see, before Angemon could react. Catching up to Jareth, he grabbed the helpless teenager and turned back upwards.  
  
"You can open your eyes now," the demonic angel said gently.  
  
Jareth did as he was told. "Ravemon?!" he asked incredulously, gazing up into his partner's very different face.  
  
"That's Darkangemon."  
  
"You've gone Ultimate?"  
  
"Yep! Now, where shall I set you down?"  
  
Jareth gazed around him--and his eyes fell on the very mountaintop that was their original destination.  
  
"Ahh," Darkangemon said, following his gaze. He sped at the mountaintop, deposited Jareth, then flew into the sky again. "Angemon!" he bellowed.  
  
Where any other Digimon would have fled, Angemon was still there, waiting. Darkangemon sped right at him, his head lowered as if to headbutt his foe.  
  
Angemon let gravity work for him, dropping out of the line of fire. As he fell, he turned and struck at Darkangemon's exposed back. "Angel Rod!"  
  
The golden staff flew at Darkangemon, but he was prepared. Turning back towards Angemon, he swung his scythe, which had begun to glow an electric blue. "Rune Edge!"  
  
The staff was knocked aside, and let to fall. Angemon played his last card.  
  
"Hand of Fate!"  
  
Darkangemon was not to be outdone. He, too, drew back his hand and punched at the air. "Fist of the Heavens!"  
  
The golden light of Angemon's Hand of Fate met Darkangemon's blueish-white energy beam....and was split down the middle by the force of the Fist of the Heavens. Darkangemon's attack struck Angemon head-on, knocking him from the sky. He fell, faster and faster, until he crashed into the forest below.  
  
Darkangemon floated down to Jareth's side on the mountaintop, and moments later transformed back into the small, green creature that was Venomon.  
  
"You okay, Venomon? That was awesome!"  
  
"I'm..." Venomon fell foreward, and only a quick catch by Jareth stopped him from falling flat on his face.  
  
"Tired? Yeah, I thought you might be."  
  
Jareth laid Venomon gently down upon the ground, then sat down on a conveniently placed fallen log. His new ally should be arriving any time now.....  
  
----Digimon Analyzer----  
  
DarkAngemon  
  
Ultimate  
  
Virus  
  
Dark Holy Digimon  
  
Attack: Rune Edge, Fist of the Heavens  
  
He's the sort of dark angel that nobody wants to mess with. He always means business. 


	4. Ann Bannon

Ann was sitting at her computer, late at night, busy surfing the net into the wee hours. She had slept in very late that day, so she was suffering from some insomnia. Even the sound of the ocean outside her bedroom window could not ease her into sleep. It was a warm night in Southern California. The warm air from the beach coming in and keeping her awake was another reason why Ann felt she couldn't sleep. At least it was summer, and she didn't have to worry about any school the following morning. So she could just sleep in again the next morning, and continue the cycle of her insomnia.  
  
She was so awake, that she couldn't stay in her nightclothes at all. They seemed to make her even more restless. So, she decided to stay up, surf around on some favourite sites, spend time in some chat rooms with fellow insomniacs. Just do nothing at all.  
  
Ann was just about to give sleeping another try, when something odd appeared on her screen. It was the face of a very scary, yet sophisticated jester. But this was one clown you would never want to laugh at. At first, Ann thought it was some sort of hacker's prank. So she tried to press the escape key to get out of her internet browser. Yet, none of her commands from the keyboard would work.  
  
"Whatever this is, I'm going to reboot my computer and give it a total virus check." Ann said to herself, running though the possible solutions that could get rid of this scary face on her computer screen.  
  
"This is no prank young lady." The scary clown said to her.  
  
"Yeah right, this is only some clever virus program playing a video for me while it downloads into my computer." Ann said as she reached for the power switch on her computer.  
  
"Turning the computer off will do nothing to rid of me." The clown responded in a calm tone.  
  
"How about I find out and see that you are wrong?" Ann said confidently. There was no computer program she couldn't handle. Unless it had to do with the melting of a hard drive disk. She then turned the power switch on her computer off, but was surprised to see that nothing affected the image of the jester on her computer screen.  
  
"I told you, but you don't seem to believe me. Let me introduce myself. I am Piedmon." The evil clown spoke, "And I come from a realm called the Digital World. I, and many other inhabitants of my world, are known as Digimon."  
  
"Well, I've hate to go visit a world full of freaky clowns that look like you." Ann said in an impolite tone.  
  
"You seem to be in luck. Not all digimon look like myself. But, I am going to take you to the Digital World anyway." Piedmon responded, feeling very airy that he was the  
  
only one of his kind.  
  
"I must be dreaming. I probably got so tired I fell asleep at the computer, and now I'm having strange dreams from eating way to many chocolate donuts." Ann rapidly said to herself.  
  
"Well then, how about I prove you wrong again?" Piedmon said. Suddenly, the computer screen glowed with a bright green light, and a small object flew out of the screen and in front of Ann.  
  
"What the heck is this?" Ann said as she picked up the object before her. But just as she touched the thing, she was flung into a swirling portal, and hurled though it at an incredible speed. But she blacked out before she could see any more. When she regained consciousness again, she found herself in some kind of dull grey forest. And teh scary-looking clown that called himself Piedmon was standing right before her.  
  
"Great, now I do know this is a dream brought on by over consumption of chocolate donuts." Ann wearily said.  
  
"Very sceptic of yourself, aren't you?" Piedmon smugly observed, but continued. "I need you for a mission."  
  
"You should have said that in the first place!" Ann said, rubbing the back of her head, checking for any bumps or injuries. Thinking this might be a hallucination from a concussion.  
  
"You are one of the Dark Digidestined. A select few of children, who are destined to help me conquer the Digital World and destroy the meddling group of Digidestined who keep me from that goal. But I shall provide you with a weapon to help you in your mission. You will have your own Digimon to aid you in your journeys." Piedmon explained, and a small ball with a cat's face hopped out of the bushes behind Piedmon.  
  
"That little thing?" Ann furrowed her brow in disbelief.  
  
"You should never underestimate the powers a digimon hides. But first, you must meet a fellow Dark Digidestined before I send you off on any real missions." Piedmon said, and crossed his arms over his chest.  
  
"Okay, so where is this other guy?" Ann said, looking around to see if anyone else was going to appear from the bushes again.  
  
"You must meet him up at the top of that mountain." Piedmon pointed to a large mountain emerging from the horizon.  
  
"Seems easy enough. Just a quick hike up there and I'll be ready to do whatever you need me to do." Ann said confidently. She then picked up the small ball Piedmon said was her digimon, and pocketed the object that had appeared on her computer desk and caused her to appear in this new world. She then set off towards the mountain, leaving Piedmon back behind her.  
  
Ann looked down at her new partner. It was quite cute actually. A light green cat head with large blue eyes, and a deep blue teardrop fur marking between it's eyes. It's ears seemed to be it's only remote form of limbs, because they could wrap around, and cover it's large eyes.  
  
"What's your name?" Ann asked her digimon, not expecting a reply.  
  
"I'm Endomon," The digimon said in a squeaky little voice, that obviously indicated the digimon was female. "What's your name then?"  
  
"I'm Ann Bannon. And what did Piedmon mean when he said about not underestimating a digimon's power?" Ann asked.  
  
"He was talking about digivolving. You do have that digivice that he gave you right?" Endomon asked in return.  
  
"You mean this thing that appeared from my computer screen before I was brought here?" Ann pulled out a small white device from her pocket.  
  
"That's a digivice alright!" Endomon smiled, "Those things help digimon digivolve to the next level!"  
  
"What does digivolving mean? I mean, what are you saying by 'going to the next level'?" Ann asked, feeling each new answer brought on more questions.  
  
"I'm at the in-training level, and at the right moment, when needed, I can digivolve to rookie, which is a little more powerful than in-training. Then, from rookie to champion to ultimate, and mega is the highest form." Endomon explained.  
  
"I think I'll wait and see what this digivolving is like instead of asking you to describe it for me." Ann said, as they walked on towards their goal.  
  
"Good, because it'd be a hard question for me to answer. I've never experienced digivolving before." Endomon sighed.  
  
"Don't worry," Ann smiled down at Endomon, "I'll help you digivolve soon." And they walked on to the mountain.  
  
Piedmon stood at the edge of a cliff on the mountain Ann and Endomon were supposed to go to. He thought deeply about something.  
  
"I've never had anyone have feelings strong enough to resist my brainwashing." Piedmon mused. "Perhaps I'll have to give her a second dose of the brainwashing to effectively remove her original crest qualities. Lets see... I know what to do. What a great plan too. I now can kill two birds with one stone." Piedmon chuckled evilly to himself.  
  
Ann walked on, observing her surroundings, carrying the small digimon in her arms.  
  
"So, what do you think your rookie and champion forms would be like?" Ann asked Endomon.  
  
"I'm not sure, I haven't been around long enough to think about it." Endomon said, "I guess I'll have to find out and see!"  
  
Ann suddenly stopped walking for a moment, she stood perfectly still, concentrating.  
  
"What's--" But Endomon was cut off by Ann's abrupt hushing sound.  
  
"Don't you hear that?" Ann whispered.  
  
"What?" Endomon paused, and strained to hear something. But then she too heard it, and felt it. It was the footsteps of something really large.  
  
"I feel like I'm stuck in the movie, Jurassic Park." Ann said, fear creeping up in her voice.  
  
Endomon was about to ask Ann a question on what a movie was, and what was Jurassic Park, but could no longer speak from fear and anxiety.  
  
The waiting was ended finally ended when the heavy footsteps were finally upon them, and the creator was revealed. A huge, black, Tyrannosaurus knocked down several trees to enter the small clearing that Ann had walked into. But this T-Rex was nothing like the ones in the Jurassic Park movies. It looked more like it was on steroids, with all the abs it had. And unlike a regular T-Rex, with short, weak, and useless claws, this T-Rex had long, fully functional arms with two huge claws that were wrapped up in some kind of leather at the base, and at the ends were plated with steel on the tips. And, like Godzilla from those Japanese movies, it had weird, pointy green plates on it's back. But this was no man in a rubber suit at all.  
  
"It's... It's DarkTyrannomon!" Endomon barely was able to breathe out it's name.  
  
"This is beyond any movie I've ever seen." Ann said, astounded in fear. But then, Endomon had mustered up all her courage, and jumped out of Ann's arms. She then started blowing bubbles from her mouth at the DarkTyrannomon.  
  
"Endomon! Stop risking yourself!" Ann shouted at her small companion.  
  
"I have to protect you from this evil Digimon!" But Endomon started panicking when she saw her bubble attack barely made the DarkTyrannomon blink. But the small digimon was determined to save her digidestined. Suddenly, Ann heard a screeching noise, and her digivice in her pocket started glowing. She pulled her digivice out of her pocket, and watched as it was the cause of the glowing and the screeching. But when Ann looked up from her digivice, she saw her digimon friend had changed.  
  
"Endomon! What happened to you?" Ann said, astonished at how all this was happening to her in just one day.  
  
"I digivolved to rookie finally! I'm Enzoromon now!" The digimon in Endomon's place said. Ann observed that Enzoromon's voice sounded a bit more mature, and no longer sounding like a toddler on helium, she sounded more like an older child. She looked a lot like a fox, only with jade-green fur. And she had tufts of fur on the tip of her large ears. In the center of Enzoromon's forehead, was a tear-drop shaped jewel that was a shining, sapphire blue colour. And she had small fins coming out from her bushy tail.  
  
"I guess I was right when I said that I would help you digivolve." Ann said, with more astonishment on her face.  
  
Enzoromon narrowed her eyes at the DarkTyrannomon, and the jewel on her forehead began to glow.  
  
"Dry Ice!" Enzoromon shouted as a frozen beam shot out of her jewel, and straight for the DarkTyrannomon's eyes. The DarkTyrannomon shouted in pain as a small layer of ice covered its eyes. It started flailing its huge arms madly, and tried taking swipes at the ground blindly. It was able to succeed though, and flung Enzoromon into a tree. Ann ran towards Enzoromon, but was brushed aside by the DarkTyrannomon's huge claws, and knocked to the ground.  
  
"Hey. Pick on someone your own size." Enzoromon weakly said as she got up from the base of the tree. Again, Ann's digivice began to glow and make screeching sounds, and Enzoromon transformed once again! This time, Enzoromon was a large, green panther. With a pair of jagged, blue, crystaline horns comming out from the base of her ears, which pointed upwards a bit, at a slight angle leaning towards her back, but changed angles suddenly, and made a flat line towards her back. She also had a third, smaller horn on the top of her nose. Also, she had jutting fangs like a smileadmon's that were nearly a foot long. Her large panther body was half as tall as the DarkTyrannomon. But, the four-legged beast could match the large digimon in power. So now, the battle was finally even.  
  
"Hold on Ann! I'll get us out of here. Or else my name isn't Felinamon." The large panther said, then started charging towards the DarkTyrannomon, her horns levelled with the other digimon's body. The DarkTyrannomon was able to remove the ice from it's eyes just in time to see a large green blur ram into it's stomach. The DarkTyrannomon was offguard, so it was knocked off it's feet easily, and was flung a small distance. The DarkTyrannomon tried to get up, but was knocked back down as Felinamon shouted "Blue Laser!" and a beam of blue light shot out of her glowing horns. The DarkTyrannomon was now down for good.  
  
"You okay Ann?" Felinamon asked in a tone of voice much like a worried mother. She hovered over her digidestined expectantly, waiting for any response.  
  
"I'm fine. Just got a few bruises and scrapes. I'll live." Ann said as she got up and brushed herself off. She looked at her digivice, and saw it was a deep purple colour that was nearly black.  
  
"How about you ride on my back for the rest of the way to the mountain?" Felinamon said.  
  
"I think that's a pretty good idea." Ann said, as she climbed on top of Felinamon's back.  
  
"I never noticed it was this colour before." Ann quietly mused to herself. But Ann couldn't think much more to herself, once Felinamon had started running, because she had to keep her mind on clinging for dear life on the back of a huge panther.  
  
They finally made it up to the top of the mountain, which didn't take as long as Ann thought. She saw another kid standing on the opposite edge of the small plateau that was on the summit of the mountain. Ann looked behind her back and saw Felinamon shrink down to Enzoromon. The kid, Ann assumed, must have been Jareth. And the digimon at his side was his. But Piedmon never mentioned the name of Jareth's digimon.  
  
"I guess you're Jareth," Ann said, "I'm Ann Bannon, and this is Enzoromon."  
  
The boy nodded. He was wearing dark clothes and a black trench coat. And he had black sunglasses on.  
  
"I see I'm not the only one who is a fan of black clothing." Jareth quietly observed. Ann looked down at her clothes, and saw she was now wearing black slacks, with a black tee-shirt. She had a metal chain coming from her pocket, and was connected to her digivice. She also was wearing those black leather bracelets that had the metal spikes sewn into it.  
  
"That's strange, I wasn't wearing this when I left home. I hope I'm not wearing any makeup." Ann said, and put a hand to her face, feeling about, checking if there was any.  
  
"No, but your bangs are highlighted with blue." Jareth said. Ann took a lock of her hair, and looked at it. She did have blue streaks. Well, she always wanted to have some, but her mother would never allow her to do that to her hair. She kept on telling her that it would make her look too gaudy. But, Ann was pretty content with her outfit now. Ann tucked the lock of hair back behind her ear again.  
  
"This place does a lot to your appearance, I guess." Ann mused to herself, "Who's your digimon? Piedmon never told me what it's name was."  
  
"This is Venomon." Jareth said, "But our master, Piedmon, wanted us to get to work. He told me that he's getting a third Dark Digidestined, and that you were to get rid of a pair of digidestined scum." Jareth held up a photograph of a girl in a pink dress, and a matching cowboy hat. And a tall, nerdy-looking boy was standing next to her. With large glasses, and deep blue hair.  
  
"Who are they?" Ann asked, coolly.  
  
"These two goodie-two-shoes give us a bad name. Piedmon wants you to take them out. But not to underestimate them. Their names are Mimi and Joe. You can guess who is who." Jareth said, "You can keep this photo as reference."  
  
"Don't worry. This'll be easy. How hard is it going to be to take out an airhead and a nerd?" Ann said in a cold tone. Then, she turned and headed off to follow her orders, with Enzoromon trailing behind.  
  
----Digimon Analyzer----  
  
Endomon  
  
In-Training  
  
Data  
  
Micro Digimon  
  
Attack: Bubble Blow  
  
She can make just about anyone smile about a rainy day.  
  
Enzoromon  
  
Rookie  
  
Data  
  
Artic Fox Digimon  
  
Attack: Dry Ice  
  
Her attacks are ice cold, but her heart's as warm as a fireside.  
  
Felinamon  
  
Champion  
  
Data  
  
Mammal Digimon  
  
Attack: Blue Laser, Blizzard Rush  
  
She is a strong and determined feline. You'll find yourself frozen solid if you mess with her! 


	5. Hikayo Lee

Tale of the Dark Digidestined  
  
Runt of the Pack  
  
Hikayo made a face as he unwrapped the plastic cling from his sandwich, noting with disgust that the cheese had melted off onto the cling wrap once again. He took one bite into the warm sandwich and forced himself to chew and swallow it. The sun burned down from the sky mercilessly, adding to his already near burn on his skin. His other camping friends had taken this opportunity to go swimming in the pond nearby, leaving Kayo all by himself to guard the camp. They said they would be back to guard the camp in shifts, but it was three hours later and they showed no signs of returning.  
  
It was an uncharacteristically hot summer, even by Vancouver standards. The grass was drying up rapidly and even the supposedly cool camping tents offered no relief or shelter from the sun. At night it was still stifling. Kayo had heard reports of snow falling in Japan and floods in normally dry countries. If only they could get some of that flood here...any hotter and Kayo wouldn't even be able to keep his shirt on!  
  
Suddenly, the sky darkened until it seemed like night. Kayo swore he heard a wet shredding sound as it did, and looked up into the sky. He wasn't prepared for the sight that greeted him.  
  
The sky seemed to have been torn into shreads by a paper shredder, and now every other shread of sky displayed a dark forboding set of mountains that seemed to be standing on their peaks. Kayo scrambled to his feet, his head full of mixed emotions. The apocolypse?  
  
From the sky, a bright red light flared and soon seemed to be moving towards the ground. Kayo stared at it, unsure of what to do. Then with a shock he realized the thing, whatever it could have been, was bearing down on his position. Kayo fled into the safety of his camping tent just as the object hit the ground. When he was sure the proverbal dust had settled, he catiously looked out.  
  
A small crater had formed right at the front of his tent and something lay in it. Kayo reached out and brushed away some of the loose dirt hiding it. As soon as his fingers made contact with whatever it was, it emitted a beam of light and a shrill whistle. Kayo shrank back, startled, but soon mustered up enough courage to glance at his find.  
  
A blood red electronic device of some sort, with black buttons and a circular screen, about the size of a pager. He didn't know why, but Kayo was drawn to the device, as if it was his. He was deathly afraid of it yet fascinated at the same time. He stuck his arm out and clasped the device.  
  
The world began to spin wildly. Panicking, Kayo tried to let go of the device, but he couldn't. With a force that threatened to rip him apart, and unseen force ripped him off the planet's surface and into the air, towards the forboding mountians in the rip in the sky. He kept flying like a comet on crash course for the dinosaurs, straight for the middle of the area--a dark, menacing spiral mountain with what looked like a large bird's nest on top. He stopped flying with a shuddering halt, then began falling to the ground at a sickening speed. He thought he was going to hit the ground and splatter all over the place when, with a sharp jerk halted his downward descent--just before he hit the ground. The unseen force relaxed, dropping him to the ground. A ring of dust rose around Kayo as he coughed and crawled to his feet. The fact that his knees were like gel did not help.  
  
"Goodie! Oh boy, it's a human! Can I eat him?" A scratchy, high-pitched voice cried excitedly. Kayo glanced around and saw a wolf-like animal staring excitedly at him, wagging it's tail. It had bright gold eyes like that of a wolf and it's lupine body was covered in shades of slivery blue. From the sides of his front legs facing out, two falcon-like wings grew out from the ankles, the feathers a darker shade of blue. It yipped happily and licked it's chops.  
  
"No you may not," objected a forceful voice from behind Kayo. The boy spun around and found himself glancing up at a tall jester with a mean smile and a mask. Kayo flinched. Behind him, the winged wolf cowered slightly.  
  
"This boy is your Dark Digidestined, and at no time shall you even think of devouring him, you silly fool," the jester continued. Kayo stared popeyed at the two.  
  
"D-d-dark Digi-what?"  
  
"Dark Digidestined," the jester snapped. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Piedmon, leader and last remaining digimon of the Dark Masters who were destroyed by the Digidestined. I am also the strongest level Digimon there is in the Digital World." Piedmon gestured around him for emphasis. "I have brought you here to aid me in disposing of these Digidestined fools, along with two others."  
  
"And you expect me...to do just that? I mean, why me? Surely these...Digidestined that you speak of aren't anything beyond you, being the highest level Digi-whatsit in the world."  
  
"Ohh, don't even go there!" The wolf cried, tucking its tail between its legs and hunkering down on the ground. Piedmon's lips curled into a snarl at that remark. He raised his hand in the air.  
  
"Clown Trick!"  
  
A ring of energy hit Kayo in the head and the world began to spin again. He couldn't think clearly anymore and everything rushed by in a blur at a dizzying pace. The light seemed to dim to an angry red and suddenly, it was gone. Kayo collapsed to his knees and groaned.  
  
"That will teach you to defy me." Piedmon flung a medallion at Kayo's feet. The boy groped for it and finally lifted it up to his face. It had an obsidian black surface, and carved on it was an evil-looking logo of a fanged face. Seeing his blank expression, the wolf attempted to help.  
  
"It's a tag and crest. It's a device that will help me digivolve stronger when it's activated."  
  
"Digivolve...as in evolve? Like, grow?"  
  
"Very good!" Piedmon said. "Yes indeed it does. This is the crest of Havoc. Use it well, and do not fail me. Clown Trick!"  
  
With a dizzying flash, Kayo and the wolf found themselves in a thick forest. A figure in the darkness jumped slightly, but recovered. Kayo turned to face the new person.  
  
"Uh...hi. I'm Kayo, Dark Digidestined."  
  
"I'm Jareth, Dark Digidestined," the figure announced, walking out of the shadows. He wore sunglasses and was dressed entirely in black, and he was a bit older than Kayo. At his side was Venomon. "I see you're a new member to our team. There are seven Digidestined headed for Spiral Mountain, and one somewhere in these forests. He should be an easy target."  
  
To himself, Jareth thought, [Pitiful kid. He looks so weak even a Numemon could take him at a moment's notice. What was Piedmon thinking?] Jareth stared down at the wolf at Kayo's heels. "And what Digimon might that be?"  
  
"Oh, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Aeromon, a rookie Digimon that is said to be fabled after the legendary wolf spirits of the forest. I'm your partner in crime for life!" Aeromon rubbed his face against Kayo's leg and growled happily. "Did I mention you smell like meat?"  
  
"Cut it out, Aeromon, we're here to work with them, not eat them," Venomon growled.  
  
"But I haven't had a bite in weeks! I gotta eat sometime!"  
  
"Once we find that Digidestined, there will be plenty of meat."  
  
"Venomon's right," Jareth agreed, his voice cold. "Let's go."  
  
Some wolves live in a pack. Some wolves walk alone.  
  
Gabumon quietly regarded his human friend as they continued their endless trek through the forest of File Island. These days, Matt would not speak a word unless he had to, and they had journeyed in silence, often hunger. Gabumon was beginning to wonder if this Matt was indeed the Matt he knew, or a stranger. He sighed to himself. But whatever Matt decided to do, Gabumon had to go along with it. After all, they were friends. And if Matt forgot what that had meant, it was up to Gabumon to remind the human boy.  
  
Hidden in the nearby bushes, Jareth and Kayo regarded their prey in silence. Aeromon was eagerly shifting from foot to foot, his tail wagging rapidly.  
  
[Perfect target for this boy to prove his worth.] Jareth turned to the boy.  
  
"Get out there and cream him."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Piedmon doesn't like weaklings and nether do we. Get out there and prove your worth, kid. Show us a little boy like you has spunk."  
  
"I am not little!" Kayo huffed angrily. He slunk out of the bushes with Aeromon in tow. Venomon glanced questioningly at Jareth.  
  
"You sure about this?"  
  
"Newbies need to gain respect. Besides," Jareth added coldly, "it saves energy."  
  
Gabumon stopped dead in his tracks and looked around. "Matt, did you hear that-OW!"  
  
"Gabumon!" Matt yelled, spinning around to see what had transpired. Gabumon kept yowling and Matt saw what was the cause of his pain--a wolf-like digimon had latched itself onto his Digimon's tail. Gabumon somehow managed to twist away and kick the attacker off. "Who is that?"  
  
"It's Aeromon, but I've never heard of one so aggressive before," Gabumon explained. "Gabumon and Aeromon usually get along with each other--gah! Blue Blaster!"  
  
Aeromon leapt into the air, spreading his wings for extra lift as the attack sailed harmlessly to the side. Flipping through the air, Aeromon landed a few paces away from Gabumon. His licked his chops gleefully, growling.  
  
"Ah, fresh meat at last!" Aeromon yipped, lowering his head and unfurling his wings as he began to charge at an incredible speed. "Light Speed Strike!"  
  
Gabumon had no time to dodge as Aeromon leapt at him and struck from the side, sending him tumbling a few feet at Matt's feet. Aeromon landed on all fours once again and got ready for a second attack. Matt took action.  
  
"Gabumon! Digivolve!" Matt cried as his digivice began to glow. Suddenly, he was knocked off his feet and went tumbling to the ground. When he looked to see who his attacker was, he found himself staring face to face with another boy about his age or older. The boy smirked as he ripped the Digivice away from Matt's belt.  
  
"I believe you'll be needing this," Kayo sneered as he tossed it over his shoulder and out of sight. Matt gasped and flung his attacker to the side, scrambling to his feet in pursuit of his Digivice, but Kayo managed to trip the other boy up by grabbing his left leg. Matt grunted and lashed out with his other foot, taking Kayo's cap off but failing to do anything more. Kayo grabbed Matt's other leg as his victim lashed out again and tried to stagger to his feet in this position. Matt squirmed in the dust, finally managing to twist around and deliver a mad punch at Kayo's face. Kayo's grip loosened, allowing Matt to scramble to his feet and take off while he still could.  
  
Aeromon saw this and abandoned his death grip on Gabumon, racing off to halt the Digidestined boy. Spreading his wings once again, he bore down on Matt. Aeromon charged through the air just as Matt bent down to pick up his Digivice, causing the wolf Digimon to miss completely and crash headlong into a thick oak up ahead. A loud cracking sound ensured and the tree began to tumble--right onto Matt.  
  
"Gabumon, Digivolve to...Garurumon!"  
  
Garurumon smacked the tree trunk away with a swipe of his paw, sending it and Aeromon flying a few feet away with a loud crash. Kayo slammed his dusty cap back onto his head and ran off in that direction, only to be tripped up by Garurumon's large paw. Kayo tried to get up, but Garurumon's paw came down, pinning the boy solidly to the ground. Matt glared down at the boy.  
  
"Okay, would you mind telling me what was that all about? Why are you attacking me? Who are you?"  
  
"I'm not answering any of the above," Kayo said stubbornly.  
  
"You're a Digidestined because you have a Digimon," Garurumon pressed, hot blue fumes rising from his mouth. "Yet you attack us. Why?"  
  
"I told you, I'm not answering! It's none of your business!" Com'on, Jareth, where are you?  
  
"He's not talking, Matt. Got any ideas?"  
  
"Well, he's obviously working for someone and he's a Digidestined--"  
  
"I refuse to be known as a Digidestined nutbar like you! I am the Dark Digidestined, and there's nothing you can do to stop us!"  
  
"Dark Digidestined? Us?" Matt puzzled.  
  
"Who sent you to kill us?" Garurumon growled threateningly.  
  
"Hey, wait! He has a crest, just like the Digidestined! Do you think someone is manipulating him..."  
  
Matt was cut off in mid-sentence by an unearthly howl and the snapping of wood, and finally a small grey comet came bearing down on him and Garurumon. "Light Speed Strike!"  
  
"All right Aeromon!" Kayo exclaimed. Aeromon knocked Matt clear head over heels and proceeded to annoy the large striped wolf like a small buzzard, darting this way and that, biting and shredding with all the hellery he could muster. Since Aeromon was much smaller than Garurumon, the larger wolf could not seem to contain him, and descended to a fury of growling and snapping.  
  
From their hiding place in the bushes, Venomon and Jareth watched the battle in silence. "He's got spunk," Venomon mused.  
  
"And Kayo doesn't know the first thing about fighting," Jareth observed.  
  
Garurumon finally scored a hit, rearing up on his front legs and swiping at the small wolf. However, this freed Kayo, who rolled away before he could be squashed flat by those paws. Seeing this, Matt pounced on the boy, and soon the two where fighting. Aeromon rolled to his feet and barely managed to avoid a blast of blue flame from Garurumon's mouth. Even with his agility, the rookie Digimon was no match for a champion.  
  
"Why do you want to destroy me?" Matt wheezed as he pinned Kayo to the ground.  
  
"It's his orders!"  
  
"Who's him?"  
  
"I can't tell you!"  
  
"WHO IS HE?"  
  
"It's none of your business! You're the one who destroyed his bunch of what-he-calls them Digimon! You brought this upon yourself! Don't expect me to feel sorry for you!"  
  
It suddenly dawned upon Matt. "Piedmon hired you?!"  
  
At this, Kayo got one leg free and kicked Matt solidly in the gut, causing his attacker to sprawl onto the ground.The Dark Digidestined spat forcefully at the ground as he got to his feet.  
  
"Great. Now I'll just have to kill you. At least you'll know you paid for your actions." Kayo reached into his shorts pocket and flicked out the blade of his camping knife as he pulled it out. Matt's eyes widened in fear and he wisely backed away. However, the glint of the blade caught Garurumon's eye. Swiping blindly with his paw, he swatted Aeromon out of the air, sending the Digimon crashing into a tree. The large wolf then leapt between Matt and Kayo, puffing arcid blue fumes.  
  
"Touch Matt and you'll wish you were never born!" Garurumon threatened.  
  
"Now you've made me mad!" Aeromon snarled as he got shakily to his feet. Kayo turned and rushed towards his Digimon, worrying that the lupine cub might try something suicidal in the next few seconds. Aeromon collapsed in a heap as he struggled to get up again, fighting Kayo's attempts to withstrain him.  
  
"Get a grip, Aeromon! You can't fight in this condition!" Kayo hissed.  
  
"We beat you fair and square!" Matt straightened as he looked down at his attacker. "Now tell us, why are you working for Piedmon? You're a Digidestined!"  
  
"Oh would you please shut up!" Kayo yelled as he flung himself at Matt again, but this time Garurumon was ready. His paw flew out, swatting Kayo off his feet and flying off with a force that might snap his neck if the boy hit the ground. Aeromon howled in anger and suddenly, Kayo's digivice began to whistle shrilly and emit a blinding light.  
  
"Aeromon! Digivolve to...LUPIDRAMON!"  
  
Kayo landed with a thud on Lupidramon's blue furry back. When he looked up, he found himself staring into the large face of a wolf the size of Garurumon.  
  
"Aeromon...?" Kayo asked, confused.  
  
"I'm Lupidramon now," the wolf replied stiffly, without once moving its mouth. "Part wolf, part dragon, I obliterate my enemies with my Dark Lighting attack. They'll be sorry they never paid their electric bills." His gold eyes gleamed evily as he turned to face Garurumon.  
  
"You can be whomever you want to be," Kayo replied meekly. With a slight shock he realized that Lupidramon was airborne. The small wings that were formerly on his ankles had repositioned themselves on the Digimon's back and grown several sizes bigger. Lupidramon threw back his head and howled so loudly that the forest seemed to shake with its vibration. As he did so, gold electric energy gathered itself in a tight ball just between his jaws. The energy grew darker and went totally black as more electricity was compacted into the tight ball. Then, Lupidramon flung his head forward, at the same time catapulting the ball of distructive energy straight at Garurumon.  
  
"Dark Lightning!"  
  
Garurumon knocked Matt aside as the attack bore down onto their postion before leaping away, but not fast enough. The dark ball of energy shocked the wolf into submission and Garurumon hit the ground with a thud. However, he was back on his feet in the next second, shaking off the after effects of the attack.  
  
"Howling Blaster!"  
  
Lupidramon barely avoided the shot and flew up higher to get out of the attack's range before retorting with another volley of Dark Lightning. Garurumon nimbily danced out of the way but could not avoid being scorched. Matt looked at Garurumon and nodded. Matt's crest and digivice began to glow.  
  
"Garurumon! Digivolve to..."  
  
"Quick! Aeromon! Hit 'im while he's still digivolving!" Kayo shouted hastily as he saw the opening. "He can't attack or defend while he's doing so!"  
  
"Dark Lightning!" Lupidramon howled, shooting several black balls of electric energy at the glowing form of Garurumon. Each hit its target, sending a blinding cloud of smoke every time. Very soon, it was impossible to see whether the attack had succeded or not. Matt coughed as he stumbled to the blast area, trying to see if his Digimon had survived the attack. Even Jareth and Venomon were on the edge of their seats.  
  
"Hey Jareth, that's a pretty good strategy!" Venomon exclaimed, a little surprised by the boy's tactic.  
  
"I'll start complementing him as soon as I see if it works."  
  
Finally the smoke cleared, revealling a worse for wear Gabumon, slumped on the forest floor. Matt rushed up to his downed Digimon, yelling his name over and over again. Gabumon shook himself off and looked up weakly at Matt.  
  
"He's...stronger than I though..." Gaubmon winced. Matt's crest and digivice activated again at these words.  
  
"Let's show him what Digivolving's all about! Go get him!"  
  
"Gabumon! Warp Digivolve to..."  
  
Lupidramon was ready this time and sent a volley of Dark Lighting straight for the digivolving Gabumon, but this time both Dark Digidestined and Digimon did not consider that Warp Digivolving might be faster, hence its name. As before, the attack found its mark, sending a binding cloud of dust high in the air.  
  
MetalGarurumon shook off the attack easily and shot up into the air to match Lupidramon, who had recoiled in shock.  
  
"What is that thing?!" Kayo exclaimed.  
  
"If I'm not mistaken, that is Gabumon's Mega form!" Lupidramon replied, obviously unnerved.  
  
"Mega?" Kayo asked, confused.  
  
"The highest level Digimon there is! Such as Piedmon!"  
  
MetalGarurumon didn't wait for an opening. Several compartments opened all over his body and the Mega fired several freezing missles at Lupidramon, who despirately tried to avoid them all. Kayo hang on for dear life, flattening himself against Lupidramon's back as the missles whizzed too close for comfort. One missle did find it's mark, detinating at Lupidramon's chest. With a howl of pain and anger Lupidramon stumbled back and regained his balance, his dark lavender mane bristling.  
  
"Give up yet?" MetalGarurumon growled.  
  
"I was about to ask you the same thing!" Lupidramon replied sharply as he clacked his jaws together and seemingly spat out his entire jaw, but it was actually a translucent energy mold of them, and it shot towards MetalGarurumon. "Hound's Fang!"  
  
The attack deflected off MetalGarurumon's metal-plated head and into the horizon. Lupidramon did another double-take. That attack should have ripped open his skull. MetalGarurumon threw back his head, powering up with a freezingly cold move.  
  
"Metal Wolf Claw!"  
  
The attack hit Lupidramon dead on, flinging him and his rider a few feet off. Lupidramon howled in surprise as the attack began to encase him in a layer of ice. Kayo let go of his Digimon in fear of being frozen as well. No longer able to move, Lupidramon pummelted to the forest floor, Kayo close behind.  
  
"LUPIDRAMON!" Kayo cried as they both hit the forest floor with a sickening thud. The boy recovered quickly and started pounding the icy prison with his fists, trying to free his Digimon pal. The ice near Lupidramon's head shattered as Lupidramon began thrashing wildly--or attempting to. Kayo took out his camping knife and tried to chip the ice with its blade. Lupidramon glowed and shrank as he returned to his rookie form, who emerged, stiff and cold, from the large ice casting. Aeromon collapsed, shivering violently.  
  
"Aeromon!" Kayo looked around frantically to see if they were being followed by Matt or MetalGarurumon before carrying the frozen wolf in his arms and runnning as fast as he could into the forest.  
  
Some time later, Kayo and Aeromon sat in front of a campfire which they had set near a river. Aeromon's shivering had stopped, but he refused to move at all, stating that every nerve in his body was raw with the cold. A sneeze reported every so often from the wolf Digimon's mouth.  
  
Kayo returned with an armful of sticks to toss into the fire. "Feeling any better, pal?"  
  
Aeromon said nothing but sneezed in reply.  
  
"Bless you," Kayo offered.  
  
"That was really an undignified retreat," Aeromon said finally.  
  
"Retreat was never dignified," Kayo pointed out.  
  
"We failed Piedmon. With a devistating defeat."  
  
"Look on the bright side--we're still alive."  
  
"Your point?"  
  
"'He who flees and runs away, lives to fight another day.'"  
  
"There's a second chance?"  
  
"What were you thinking, you get only one shot at everything? On second thoughts, don't answer that."  
  
"When I get my paws on that wolf..."  
  
"He practically handed your ass to you on a platter."  
  
"That's why I'm going to get back at him!"  
  
"And get your ass kicked again."  
  
"I was just unlucky that time! I can do it!" Aeromon staggered to his feet and flopped to the ground with a groan.  
  
"We're not going anywhere until you heal up completely."  
  
"On the contrary, you're going to move out right now." Kayo and Aeromon turned to face Jareth, who had emerged from the shadows. Venomon was close behind, and both didn't look pleased. Kayo got up, ready to defend his actions if necessary.  
  
"Aeromon's in no condition to move," Kayo said calmly. "That battle took a lot out of him."  
  
"You two *will* move out immediately because I ordered it."  
  
"Who died and put you in charge of my life?" Kayo snarled bitterly. Jareth scowled.  
  
"You watch it, kid. I'm your superior and you do what I say, or ELSE. You have no excuse for that defeat. You had him where you wanted and he slipped through your fingers."  
  
"I'd like to see you do better, SIR," Kayo retorted.  
  
"Careful there," Aeromon warned, struggling to his feet. Jareth's face darkened dangerously.  
  
"You know nothing, so shut up. Your orders are to trail your target and attack him when you see an opening. And I don't want to see your face until you have succeded, you hear?"  
  
Kayo scowled but said nothing. He really hated this guy. Why, he didn't know. Maybe it was his bossy nature. He turned his back on his "superior", facing the campfire. "Fine."  
  
When Jareth and his Digimon had dissapeared into the forest, Kayo sat down with a thud. There was a moment of silence before Kayo spoke again.  
  
"You know something? You did pretty good back there. You held your own."  
  
"You really think so?" Aeromon's spirits seemed to perk up.  
  
"Yeah. Ya-know, with a little more practice and a little more luck, you could've beaten him."  
  
"Well then, what are we waiting for?" Aeromon sprang to his feet energetically. "Let's go get outselves some meat!"  
  
"Did I ever say we were going to eat them?" Kayo laughed.  
  
"Blizzard Rush!"  
  
Kayo woke with a start and sat up, looking around in panic; he hadn't realized he had dozed off. Aeromon was already on his feet, eyes fixed on something in the sky. Kayo looked up and saw a large green animal sailing through the air, a flurry of sharp icicles slicing through the sky above and finding its mark on an unseen target. The ground shook, reporting a supposite almighty thud.  
  
"Harpoon Torpedo!"  
  
"Needle Spray!"  
  
The green Digimon decended from its long leap right into the hail of cactus needles and the green torpedo. With a roar, it crashed into the forest below, decidedly not far from Kayo's position. Kayo turned to Aeromon.  
  
"What do you make of it?"  
  
"We're goin' in! Aeromon! Digivolve to...Lupidramon!"  
  
Kayo climbed clumsily onto Lupidramon's back and held on for dear life as they leapt into the fray. From their vantage point above, Kayo could now see the three Digimon--a large walrus, a cactus wearing punching gloves, and a green panther with needles sticking out all over it's body. Squinting, Kayo barely made out the forms of three humans alongside their Digimon.  
  
"Which targets?" Lupidramon asked, swinging his head back and forth between the two options.  
  
"Uh...the green panther!" Kayo directed. Lupidramon swooped down at its target, who looked up, slightly startled. However, it recovered quickly.  
  
"Blue Lazer!"  
  
"Hound's Fang!"  
  
Both attacks exploded at midpoint, showering ashes to the forest floor. The green panther lept up, bristling angrily. The girl standing next to it was as equally displeased.  
  
"What in the world--"  
  
"Dark Lightning!"  
  
The green cat yowled as the attack hit it at full force and it collapsed to the ground. The girl grew even angrier.  
  
"Just what do you think you're doing, mister?!" She yelled up at him.  
  
"Doing a little cleanup around the Digiworld...of Digidestined!"  
  
"Well then, you're barking up the wrong tree!"  
  
"Huh?" Kayo and Lupidramon echoed.  
  
"The *real* Digidestined is getting away, bozo! I'm a Dark Digidestined!"  
  
"There's another one?" Kayo asked Lupidramon. The lupine Digimon was just as confused.  
  
"You two are hopeless! Get out of my way!" With that, the girl remounted her Digimon and took off after the fleeing Digidestined.  
  
"Need an extra hand?" Kayo called after her.  
  
"Just stay out of my way!"  
  
"Boy did we screw that one up," Kayo remarked a little later when the hubbub had died down.  
  
"Hey, it could have been worse," Aeromon remarked, then coughed as he uttered the name "Jareth." Kayo took his Digimon's point. He looked around at their new location, which was in a clearing of the forest. His target was nowhere to be seen. Jareth is sure to kill me now, Kayo thought with a groan. He didn't want to be around when Jareth appeared again.  
  
"What do you say we should do now?" Kayo asked.  
  
"Find something to eat," Aeromon suggested. "I'm starving!"  
  
Truth be told, Kayo had been hungry a bit after the fight with Matt. He reached into his pants pockets, hoping to find something edible and did--if you call a squashed, grubby cheese sandwich edible. The very sight of it was enough to make Kayo loose his appetite. However, Aeromon's appetite wasn't the least bit affected by its appearance.  
  
"Food!" Aeromon yipped happily. "Can I have it? Can I?"  
  
Kayo would've given it anyway, regardless of Aeromon's energetic bouncing around him. Ripping the plastic away from the sandwich, he tossed it to his Digimon, who was on it in a flash and swallowed it whole. Kayo blinked.  
  
"Got any more?" Aeromon asked hopefully. Kayo dug into his pockets--empty. Aeromon looked crestfallen.  
  
"Hey, we'll think of something." Kayo encouraged, "right now we've gotta find those two again. And while we're at it, think of a battle strategy."  
  
"What's a strategy?"  
  
"Well, it's a method we'll use to take those two down. We'll probably hit them in a series of sneak attacks, and we've already developed a strategy of hitting his Digimon while he's digivolving, which for some reason didn't turn out so well when he Digivolved to Mega. I wonder why."  
  
"I can't say for sure, but I heard that Warp Digivolving is a lot faster than normal Digivolving. Guess I'll just have to hit him harder and faster then."  
  
"Supposing we can even find them now," Kayo sighed, looking around him. "Where are we going to start? This place is so big."  
  
"You know something, Kayo?" Aeromon's ears drooped slightly. "I don't know the answer to that, either."  
  
----Digimon Analyzer----  
  
Aeromon  
  
Rookie  
  
Vaccine  
  
Legendary Digimon  
  
Attack: Lightspeed Strike  
  
Said to be descended from the ancient wolf spirits of the forest. He is a steadfast and loyal companion.  
  
Lupidramon  
  
Champion  
  
Vaccine  
  
Legendary Digimon  
  
Attack: Dark Lightning, Hound's Fang  
  
He's a strong and determined fighter, and he'll defend to the death what he thinks is right! 


	6. Enter Saberfelinamon

Ann was so angry. 'That newbie that Piedmon hired had no clue at all. Jareth should have told him about me. I was so close to destroying those digidestined.' Felinamon could hear Ann's incomprehensible mutterings.  
"What about that crest that Lord Piedmon gave you?" Felinamon asked, hoping to take Ann's mind off of the new dark digidestined's blunder.  
"Lord Piedmon said this was supposed to make you digivolve to the next level," Ann inspected the small amulet. The symbol inside of it was of an upside down crescent moon, and a shooting star that sliced the middle of it. Piedmon had told her that it was the crest of darkness. Ann could understand why, both the moon and the shooting star were commonly seen during the night.  
"We were so close to destroying those two," Felinamon said. "It probably works the same way it did last time." She indicated the crest, "One of us has to be in mortal danger before I digivolve."  
"No matter. All I want to do when I see those two is to give them a good butt-kicking!" Ann clenched her fist.  
"Who? The digidestined Piedmon wants us to kill?" Felinamon asked.  
"No! Jareth and the new guy!" Ann snapped.  
"I also want to give the new kid's digimon partner a good wallop as well." Felinamon agreed, "that pesky twerp singed my fur!" Felinamon then began to quicken her pace, so that way she could catch up with the other two digidestined that they had just battled with.  
  
* * *  
"Joe," Mimi gasped, "can we take a break now?" Mimi stopped running and clenched a stitch in her side.  
"Okay," Joe panted as he tried to catch his breath, "I think we lost them by now. Hopefully they gave up and went back home." He sat down on the ground and wiped the sweat from under his glasses.  
"But what about that other one?" Mimi asked, "The one that attacked the big green panther for us. Do you think he's on our side?"  
"I really hope he is. We could use some help right about now. That panther thing nearly had us beat." Joe slid his glasses back into place.  
The Ogremon that Joe and Mimi had rescued gave a disgruntled snort.  
"If you two would have let me, I could have walloped that green fur ball for you, and we wouldn't have this problem anymore." Ogremon waved his club around with his one good arm.  
"Not with a broken arm!" Joe protested, "then you'd be worse off than you were back with the Woodmon. Then not even my toilet paper could save you."  
"Just let that big green cat come back. Then Palmon and I can go to ultimate and send it back home crying!" Gomamon boldly challenged.  
"How about we find out and see if you're speaking the truth?" Felinamon stepped out from behind a bunch of trees off the trail. When she came into full view, they noticed that Ann was riding on Felinamon's back.  
"Who are you?" Palmon demanded. She stood in front of Mimi, shielding her from any surprise attacks from Felinamon.  
"I am Ann. I am part of a new digidestined group that is more superior than yours. This digimon I have here is mine, and her name is Felinamon." Ann patted Felinamon's back while the digimon gave a toothy grin.  
"What do you want with us?" Joe shouted at Ann, "and what do you mean 'superior'?"  
"I am part of the Dark Digidestined, and now I must follow Lord Piedmon's orders and destroy you." Ann said in a haughty tone, and dismounted Felinamon. As soon as Ann was on the ground, Felinamon instantly charged towards Mimi and Joe. But in a blink of an eye, their digimon had digivolved all the way to their ultimate forms. Gomamon was now Zudomon, and Palmon became Lillymon. At once, the digimon began their battle.  
Felinamon charged at Zudomon first, because it was a much larger target to hit than the tiny Lillymon. Zudomon easily was able to block Felinamon with his massive Hammer, and toss her aside. While Felinamon was down, Lillymon came in and blasted the wounded digimon with her Flower Cannon.  
Ann saw how badly injured Felinamon was, and rushed up to her side, trying to fight back her sobs. Felinamon could barely lift her head, and weakly glanced at Ann. But to Ann surprise, she saw her crest was glowing. A dark light emanated from the tag and crest, which gave Felinamon the energy to digivolve.  
"Felinamon Digivolve to... SabreFelinamon!" The digimon shouted as she began to change. The dark glow blocked the view of her transformation, but only for a moment. As soon as the glow had subsided, Felinamon was fully transformed into SabreFelinamon. She wore metal armor over her chest, shoulders, and wrists. And she wore black and tattered leather pants. At her back, two katanas were sheathed in a cross formation. She still looked mostly cat-like, with her deep green fur. She roared loudly, showing off her long saber teeth while her long, cat-like tail twitched and she balled her gloved hands into fists.  
"Now this shall really even the odds." Ann grinned in delight. She knew now that there was a better chance of winning this fight.  
SabreFelinamon began to charge at Lillymon this time with her katanas unsheathed, ready to slice the small fairy up like a vegetable. But Lillymon was too fast and darted out of the way before SabreFelinamon's katanas could strike her victim. SabreFelinamon turned around to take another charge at Lillymon, but saw Zudomon charging towards her with his gigantic hammer raised above his head.  
"Valker's Hammer!" Zudomon shouted as he brought the gargantuan hammer down at SabreFelinamon. But she shielded herself by crossing both her katanas in front of her just as the hammer struck. She struggled for a moment, but was able to push the hammer out of her face.  
Out of the corner of her eye, SabreFelinamon saw Lillymon charging up for another attack, but SabreFelinamon was prepared. She jumped into the air and struck Lillymon with her Twin Katana attack just as Lillymon fired her Flower Cannon blast. The two were flung away from the back blast, but SabreFelinamon took most of the damage. Both fell to the ground and managed to land on their feet. But Ogremon came and stood between the two battling ultimate digimon.  
"Get out of the way you insolent fool!" SabreFelinamon growled. She raised one of her katanas in the air in a threatening pose.  
"You're not going to kill any of the digidestined unless you can get past me." Ogremon held his club up in his one good arm.  
"Fine." SabreFelinamon said, then surprised the weaker digimon with a roundhouse kick in his ugly face.  
"What did you do that for?" Ogremon asked, shocked, and rubbing the spot where he had been hit.  
"I had to get past you. Now stay out of this or I'll not be as merciful." SabreFelinamon then started running towards Lillymon, but was stopped when she was hit by a swipe of Zudomon's hammer. SabreFelinamon was tossed aside, and rolled to a stop in front of a tree at the edge of the clearing.  
"SabreFelinamon! Get up! You can still win this fight!" Ann shouted at her digimon partner. But SabreFelinamon was weakened too much to fight any longer. She struggled to stand up again, using one of her katanas to help prop her up.  
"I'm... Too weak... to fight, any longer." SabreFelinamon gasped then fell back down and de-digivolved to her rookie form again. Ann gathered her digimon up and ran away from the other digidestined, not wanting to endanger her digimon any longer.  
  
Back on the trail, Ann cradled her wounded digimon in her arms as she slowly walked on in silence. She hoped that Piedmon would not appear and punish her for her defeat. But she awoke from her thoughts as Enzoromon stirred in her arms.  
"I'm sorry I lost the fight. It's all my fault." Enzoromon gave a defeated look.  
"Why? It should be my fault for pushing you so hard." Ann tried to comfort her digimon.  
"No. I was nearly out of energy when I digivolved to SabreFelinamon. But still, I just got a sprint of energy from the digivolving process, so I couldn't take much more of the battle." Enzoromon explained.  
"Just stop blaming yourself now. The only thing we should worry about right now is how Lord Piedmon shall take our defeat. I know it shall not be pleasant." Ann sighed at the inevitable.  
  
Meanwhile, Joe, Mimi, and the other digimon were on a different trail heading in a different direction from where Ann was going. Joe was pondering the battle.  
"Mimi?" Joe finally broke the silence they had been walking through since they had departed from battle.  
"What?" Mimi asked, tired.  
"Do you think that SabreFelinamon or Ann were truly evil?" Joe asked.  
"Why do you say that?" Mimi asked, confused.  
"Normally, evil digimon will kill any interfering digimon that try to stop their battle. But SabreFelinamon acted like she didn't intend to harm Ogremon." Joe explained.  
"I would disagree," Ogremon butted in, "that kick SabreFelinamon gave me was really hard!"  
"So do you mean that perhaps those two aren't truly evil. But maybe they're either following orders or just brainwashed or something?" Mimi ignored Ogremon's complaints.  
"That's exactly what I was thinking." Joe pointed out.  
"Well then, we're going to have to try and see if we can change their minds about being on Piedmon's side." Gomamon suggested. "That brainwash can't be too strong, we could probably get Ann and SabreFelinamon to change sides."  
"All we can do, is hope for the best." Ogremon concluded.  
  
----Digimon Analyzer----  
  
Saberfelinamon  
Ultimate  
Data  
Warrior Digimon  
Attack: Hyper Blade, Aurora Blast  
She is one wildcat you should never mess with! 


	7. The Prophecy

"You know, you were pretty hard on him,"Venomon said, as he and Jareth made their way through the forest. I mean, MetalGarurumon IS a Mega. I think he handled himself pretty well."  
There was a pause.  
"Maybe you're right." Jareth ducked under a low branch.  
"Why WERE you so hard on him? You were much nicer to Ann."  
"Yeah, well, Ann's cute."  
"Pardon?"  
"You heard me."  
"Are you telling me you were nicer to Ann just because she's a girl?"  
"An exceptionally cute girl in gothic clothing."  
Venomon blinked.  
"The truth is, I'm not really happy with either of them. Why did Piedmon have to recruit more? I mean, aren't the two of us enough?"  
"Well, the Digidestined--"  
"Outnumber us, I know. But you're stronger than any of them. When you were all at the Champion level, you were the strongest one."  
Venomon nodded. "Piedmon knew we'd be outnumbered, so he made me stronger than the average Digimon. But I guess we weren't strong enough." Venomon considered. "I suppose Aeromon and Enzoromon are just about as strong as I am."  
Jareth sighed. "I never did play well with others. But I guess we're stuck with them, aren't we?"  
"Yup."  
The two walked in silence for a time.  
  
  
*****************************  
  
  
"They call themselves the Dark Digidestined," Genni said. Tai, Kari, Izzy, Sora, and T.K. were all gathered in a circle around him as he explained the situation.  
"Piedmon created them. He never took you seriously before, but now that he is the only Dark Master left, he has begun to fear for his life."  
"Well, he'd better," Tai said.  
"The Dark Digidestined are stronger than yours, with the possible exception of Angemon."  
Patamon frowned. "No. DarkAngemon was too much for me."  
"What about WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon?" Sora asked.  
Genni turned to answer her. "Should the Dark Digidestined ever reach the Mega stage, I fear they will be able to defeat even yours. Fortunately, very few Digimon ever make it that far. In the last century, there could not have been more than twelve."  
  
  
**********************************  
  
  
Jareth grinned, ducking back behind his tree. He had heard everything. "You hear that, pal?" Jareth bent down on his knee so that he could look Venomon in the eye.  
Venomon grinned back. "Sure did. So how can I go Mega?"  
"Well, how did the Digidestined do it?"  
"Piedmon said something about...a prophecy?"  
"A prophecy? What prophecy?"  
Venomon related the prophecy that had empowered the Digidestined, haltingly at first, then faster as the memory became clearer.  
"And that's how they beat VenoMyotismon."  
"I see." Jareth contemplated for a moment. "Venomon? I think I have a plan." 


	8. Pit Stop

"I still see no sign of that Digidestined," Kayo announced mornfully. "Jareth is gonna have my head for this."  
  
"Look on the bright side, Kayo," Aeromon piped in, "at least Piedmon isn't around at this point of time."  
  
Kayo sighed. "Being the lackey sure is hard." The two had been walking in the forest for quite a while now, maybe half a day. It was hard to tell, since the sky was continually grey. The boy slumped against a tree and sat down. "Let's take a break. My feet are killing me."  
  
"I've got blisters on my paws," Aeromon complained, collapsing next to his Dark Digidestined. "On top of that, I'm hungry and thirsty, run down by all this walking..."  
  
"I'd kill for a nice pond that I can take a dip in," Kayo sighed, "and nice barbequed steaks over a charcoal grill...coke pop...icy cool coke pop..."  
  
"Mmm..." Aeromon agreed. "I could eat the image! I like catfish and see bass roasted over a campfire, or even raw with wildberries. They taste great! One of these days, if we ever find a river or a pond, I could catch some and you could cook them."  
  
Both of them sighed in absolute bliss.  
  
"Ever eaten eggs with spam?"  
  
"What's spam?"  
  
"A ground meat spiced up nicely and put in a can. You can eat them with bread, with fish, with eggs, with ketchup...it goes well with everything!"  
  
"Multi-purpose meat?" Aeromon began drooling. "I have to get my teeth in that sometime!"  
  
"Speaking of food, do you know of a restaurant nearby? I'm starved!"  
  
"Not really...wait, there's Tyranno's Burger Stand, but that was a while ago. It's on the other side of the Digiworld, across the ocean in Server."  
  
"Server?"  
  
"Yep, that's my hometown. Before Piedmon and his pals did some redecorating and stuff like that, one thing led to another and here I am. If we find a lake, we could camp there for a while."  
  
"Sounds like a good idea." Kayo got to his feet. "Let's go."  
  
The duo set off again into the forest when, coming from the opposite direction, was the girl they had run into earlier on, dashing towards them with her Digimon in towâ€"a green fox, it seemed. She and Kayo didn't notice each other until it was too late and the two collided into each other. Kayo righted himself in time and kept himself from tumbling, but the other Dark Digidestined went sprawling.  
  
"Man, are you okay?" Kayo asked, concerned.  
  
"No thanks to a klutz like you!" Ann spat, making sure her Digimon was all right before getting up. "Geez, can't you do anything right? You're such a stupid idiot!"  
  
"I said I'm sorry!" Kayo said, his voice rising to match Ann's volume.  
  
"I never take apollogies! It's because of you I got into this mess! Now I have to start from the very beginning just to get those pesky Digidestined! What was Piedmon thinking when he hired you?!"  
  
"And what was he thinking when he hired a hothead like you? This is a club for guys, no girls allowed! You're probably going to go, 'Oh, dear, another assignment? But my hair isn't done yet!'"  
  
"Watch what you say, kiddo!"  
  
"Kiddo?" Kayo spluttered. "I'm just as old as you are, you, you...you pathetic excuse for a lackey!"  
  
That did it. The next thing Kayo knew, there was a sharp crack and his head snapped to the left, almost knocking him off balance. He stumbled back, stunned by the sharp sting on his cheek. She'd slapped him. He opened his mouth to retaliate with a snide comment, but none came. All he could think was, [she slapped me. And we're not even hitting on each other!]  
  
"Hmph! Don't mess with me in the future, kiddo!" Ann huffed, then took off into the forest, roughly pushing Kayo aside so that he stumbled back and into a tree. Kayo and Aeromon watched her go, speechless.  
  
"That...was one ugly fight. Do you humans do that all the time? Kayo? Hey, Kayo, snap out of it."  
  
"Great," Kayo mumbled, "lost a fight with my target, shot by Jareth, she's on a rampage. Ahh...life is good."  
  
"Kayo, are you always this cynical?"  
  
"That's my motto." Kayo winced as he rubbed his sore cheek, which was now a bright red. "And to think we're not even intimate and she slaps me!"  
  
"I'd hate to think of what would happen if you two ever got intimate."  
  
"I don't even want to think about it. Let's go before I reflect too much on this incident and hit puberty two years early."  
  
Finally, the duo reached the edge of the dense forest. Aeromon's nose caught a whiff of something familar and welcoming. Eagerly, the wolf cub thrust his snout in the air and inhaled deeply, trying to figure out that familar smell. It smelt like...like...  
  
"Dragon Eye Lake! Woohoo!" Aeromon burst forward, leaving Kayo far behind as he hit the grassy clearing. Sure enough, a large welcoming body of water streached for miles in either direction. Kayo caught up with his Digimon, then surveyed the scene before him.  
  
"Dragon Eye Lake?"  
  
"Yep! The most famous lake in the entire Digital World! This lake is loaded with fishes! And all the cool fresh water you can drink! It's like a paradise!"  
  
"We've hit the jackpot! We'll camp here for the night and fish our dinner. Aeromon, this is great! I'll go get some firewood while you grab some fish. I'll be back before you know it!"  
  
Aeromon watched Kayo rush back to the edge of the forest, then trotted up to the water's edge. Looking down, he could see the shadows of the fish below. Long, serpentine catfish and small digichovies to plump sea bass. The wolf cub's mouth watered at the sight. Crouching low on the land, he watched the fish until he singled out one fat catfish swimming close to the shore. His head darted forward in one fluid motion and snapped up the fish in the blink of an eye, flinging it over his shoulder and onto the grass behind him. Then he darted forward again, and again, and again...  
  
"Whoa, you've hauled in quite a catch today!" Kayo said as he examined the sizable pile on the shore, an equally sizable amount of firewood in his arms. Dropping the pile and arranging some of the wood into a campfire, Kayo reached into his pocket and pulled out his lighter which he had been carrying with him, and soon a steady fire was burning. Aeromon trotted back with the last fish in his mouth to lie down by the fire, snarfing up the fish raw.  
  
"You couldn't wait for me to cook it, could you?"  
  
"Just having an appitizer." Aeromon smacked his lips in satisfaction. "Talk about good food."  
  
Kayo took one of the fish and put it on a rock, de-scaling it before placing it on a stick to roast over the fire. The smell of cooking fish tugged at his nostrils and his mouth watered. Aeromon grabbed another raw fish from the pile and watched the fire lick at the fish Kayo was cooking while absently nibbling away at his appitizer. The smoke from the fire curled into the sky, creating all sorts of smoky images that faded as they spiralled away into the sky.  
  
"I wonder what your next Digivolution would look like," Kayo said, lying back in satisfaction, a pile of fish heads and bones replacing the pile of fish that had been there before. The boy belched before he continued. "I mean, I've seen Lupidramon and what he can do, but Piedmon said you could Digivolve further with the help of this crest." Kayo absently dangled the pendant in front of him, a sinister logo of a fanged face or a samurai helmet, depending on how you looked at it. "How am I supposed to know how to use it?"  
  
"I don't really know, but the Digidestined's crest began to glow before Gabumon Digivolved to Ultimate and Mega. So there must be a link. You have to trigger the powers of the crest before I can Digivolve further."  
  
"Yeah, but...how?"  
  
That silenced Aeromon effectively, and the wolf cub could only shrug in reply. Then, suddenly, Aeromon lept to his feet, growling.  
  
"Um...Aeromon?"  
  
"Behind you." The wolf cub growled. Kayo glanced behind him and groaned.  
  
"Hi, Jareth. Uh..."Kayo grabbed the remaining fish they were grilling, "staying for dinner?" 


	9. Brainwash

Ann and Felinamon silently traveled through the forests. Felinamon had used up most of her stamina running, so now she was pacing herself with a comfortable stroll. Ann didn't mind Felinamon walking either. When the Champion digimon ran, the bumpy ride sometimes got to be too intense for her liking.  
  
The two had no particular place to go at the moment, so Ann decided that they should look for food and shelter for the night.  
  
Felinamon slowed down to a stop, and quietly asked Ann to get off her back, as the drained Digimon's body began to shiver from lack of energy. Ann agreed, and as soon as she dismounted, Felinamon de-digivolved into Enzoromon.  
  
"I'm sorry Ann, but I'm just really hungry." Enzoromon said apologetically.  
  
"That's okay, I'm hungry too. We just really need to find a place." Ann trailed off as her nose caught wind of an extremely pleasant smell of food.  
  
"Am I daydreaming, or do I smell food?" Ann tried to find the direction the smell came from.  
  
"I'm not sure, but I smell it too," Enzoromon was now searching for the trail of the scent as well. "The smell is coming from over there!" And Enzoromon bounded after the scent, suddenly renewed with energy from the hopeful promise of food. Ann did her best to keep up with the swift fox-like digimon.  
  
The two passed several trees before the outline of a cabin could be seen not too far away. Smoke was drifting out of the chimney of the cabin. Finally, Ann and Enzoromon reached the clearing that the cabin resided in.  
  
The cabin was very pretty. It looked like it came out of a beautiful landscape painting. A lovely garden bloomed profusely around the cabin's perimeter. A narrow walkway lead to the front door.  
  
"I must be hallucinating from hunger, because this can't be real!" Ann blinked several times, expecting to see the beautiful cabin to disappear at any moment.  
  
"If I'm seeing it too, then this must be one really good hallucination. I'll race you to the front door!" And Enzoromon dashed off, Ann was quickly on her Digimon's heels. The two were giggling at each other, their cares totally washed away.  
  
"I won!" Enzoromon giggled as she pressed her paw on the door. But Enzoromon didn't expect to see the door actually swing open from the pressure of her paw.  
  
"Well, the door isn't locked, so perhaps this means they don't mind visitors." Ann guessed, and walked inside.  
  
The two took some time exploring inside the cabin, looking to see if the owner was home.  
  
As Ann explored the cabin, she discovered it housed more than it appeared able from the outside. She found a well-stocked kitchen, a comfortable bedroom that even had a bed that Ann could fit in, a bathroom that included a natural hot spring as a bath, and a sitting room with several comfortable chairs sitting next to a cozy fireplace. Ann felt that if she could, she would live in this beautiful cabin with Enzoromon.  
  
"I didn't find anyone home. You don't think the owner would mind if we made ourselves at home and spent the night, would they?" Enzoromon suggested.  
  
"Whatever can keep such a lovely home must be kind enough to lend their home to needy strangers. No, I don't suppose they would mind." Ann grinned, "How about we make ourselves a big dinner and go to bed?"  
  
"Yes! Finally! Food and a bed is what I need." Enzoromon agreed.  
  
Instantly Ann and Enzoromon went about the kitchen, preparing a fine meal. Ann found some meat in the refrigerator and cooked it on the grill attachment of the stove. Enzoromon went into the garden and picked some vegetables for steaming. Ann found a fresh loaf of bread in the oven and sliced it up for the meal. The two set the small table in the kitchen, and served the food.  
  
"I can't believe I actually made some edible food. The only thing I can do right is boil pasta." Ann commented after swallowing a piece of grilled meat. Ann questioned for a moment whether the Digital World had cattle or poultry.  
  
"Cooking meat and steaming vegetables seems easy enough, so I don't think it was too hard for you, right?" Enzoromon replied.  
  
"Enzoromon, where do you suppose the meat came from? I haven't seen any cattle in the Digital World yet."  
  
"I don't know where you get your meat from in your world, but here in the Digital World we grow meat in the ground." Enzoromon explained, "I was going to get some from the garden, but you already found some in the fridge."  
  
Ann stopped chewing on her piece of meat.  
  
"Where did you say you got your meat from in your world?" Enzoromon asked.  
  
Ann decided to forget about the thought of meat growing in the dirt and finished chewing her piece of meat. She swallowed and did her best to think of how meat really came from in her world.  
  
"Back home, people raise animals. When the animals are at a right stage of their life, people kill the animals and butcher their meat and sell it in grocery stores." Ann explained.  
  
"Ewww! That's so barbaric!" Enzoromon made a face.  
  
"Growing meat in the dirt isn't much of an ideal version either." Ann commented.  
  
Enzoromon decided to change the subject, since it was disgusting her so much now.  
  
"I'm sure glad the owner of this house forgot about this bread." Then Enzoromon tried to stuff a whole potato in her mouth. Ann giggled at her Digimon's hunger.  
  
* * *  
  
Enzoromon curled up on the foot of the bed and waited for Ann to get out of the bath. When Ann reemerged, wearing a long sleeping gown she found in one of the dressers, Enzoromon yawned.  
  
"Why do you take a bath before bed?" Enzoromon asked Ann  
  
"I like to feel clean before I get into bed." Ann explained to Enzoromon.  
  
"I can only take a bath in the mornings." Enzoromon commented.  
  
"Since when do you take baths?" Ann chuckled.  
  
"Uh. That's beside the fact. I can't stand not taking a bath in the morning. I have to start the day off all squeaky clean." Enzoromon pointed out.  
  
"Well then, you take a bath tomorrow while I make breakfast." Ann planned. She then crawled between the covers of the bed, got comfortable, and quickly slipped off to sleep.  
  
* * *  
  
The morning sunshine in Ann's eyes woke her the next day. Ann's movements of getting out of bed roused Enzoromon.  
  
"Are you going to take that bath yet?" Ann asked the drowsy Enzoromon.  
  
"In a bit. I just want to sleep some more." Enzoromon closed her eyes and went back to sleep.  
  
"Get up! I want to make the bed. Go take that bath." Ann picked her Digimon up and carried her into the bathroom. Ann stood over the hot spring bath tub and dropped her friend into the warm water with a huge splash.  
  
"GAHHH!!" Enzoromon sputtered and crawled to the edge of the bath. "I'm up! I'll take a bath!" Enzoromon shook her wet head as a way to wake herself better. Ann tried to shield herself from the splashing water, already wet from the water Enzoromon displaced when she landed in the water. Ann left the bathroom to get her dry clothes on, and then make the bed. Once she was done, she went into the kitchen to look for ingredients to make pancakes or waffles with.  
  
As a stroke of luck, Ann found everything needed to make both, as well as enough ingredients to make french toast, there was some sliced bread left over from diner to make plenty. Ann also discovered a waffle iron perfect for making the waffles. Ann had the batters all mixed for all three items when a lightly damp Enzoromon stepped into the kitchen.  
  
"What are you making?" Enzoromon asked.  
  
"Pancakes, waffles, and french toast." Ann replied, "We'll have some of each. Unless you can find me some fruit and bacon, that's it."  
  
"There were a few fruit trees out in the garden, but I didn't see any bacon." Enzoromon recalled.  
  
"Okay, so can you go pick me some fruit then? I should be done cooking when you get back." Ann asked.  
  
Sure enough, by the time Enzoromon came back with a basket full of fruit, Ann had finished cooking the last piece of french toast.  
  
"Do you want any maple syrup on your food?" Ann asked as she looked around for the breakfast topping.  
  
"Maple syrup? What's that?" Enzoromon asked.  
  
"Figures. Oh goody, I found some peanut butter though. Just as good as syrup. Almost better." Ann placed the jar on the table.  
  
"Peanut butter, on this stuff? The only thing I eat peanut butter on is sandwiches." Enzoromon looked skeptical.  
  
"At least try it. I tastes so good melted on top of a warm waffle." Ann took out a spreading knife, and started spreading peanut butter into every crevice of her waffle. As Ann began spreading peanut butter on her pancakes, Enzoromon grasped another spreading knife, with surprising dexterity of her paws, and spread a small glob of peanut butter onto a corner of her waffle. Enzoromon put the spreading knife down, and gingerly took a nibble off the peanut butter covered corner of the waffle. Chewing and making a face, expecting a disgusting taste, Enzoromon was taken by surprise at how good the combination tasted. Enzoromon proceeded to eat the rest of the peanut butter covered corner of her waffle, then enthusiastically covered her waffle in the same fashion as Ann's. Ann had to giggle at how funny her partner looked holding the spreading knife covered in peanut butter.  
  
After finishing their breakfast, and cleaning all the dishes they had used, Ann and Enzoromon were sitting down and enjoying themselves. Ann and Enzoromon were busy discussing the similarities and differences of the Digital World and Ann's world when they heard someone walk through the front door.  
  
"I knew taking an overnight camping trip would relax me. I can't wait to get in that bath and clean off all that camping dirt." A squeaky-sounding voice said from the front entrance.  
  
Cautiously, Ann and Enzoromon took a peek through the hallway to see who it was. Enzoromon instantly recognized the rookie-level digimon as Psychemon. Ann interpreted the Digimon as a lupine lizard wearing a colorful wolf's fur on its' back. The Digimon resembled Gabumon, except the coloration on this Digimon was completely different. Psychedelic purples, greens, and blues gave a good hint as to why the Digimon was named Psychemon.  
  
While quietly observing the colorful Gabumon look-alike, something odd clicked in Ann's brain. Something told her that this Digimon was Gabumon, the Digimon partner to the Digidestined Matt. That something told her she had to kill this Digimon. Ann stepped into full view in the hallway, a shadow over her eyes, and an evil grin seeming to have suddenly covered her face.  
  
"Gabumon!" Ann shouted at the Digimon, "I am Ann of the Dark Digidestined, I am here to fulfill my purpose and destroy you!"  
  
"Huh? There is no Gabumon here. My name is Psychemon. I have no idea what you're talking about. I've never heard of Dark Digidestined before." The Psychemon innocently stated.  
  
Enzoromon, shocked at this sudden change in her partner, she looked up at Ann's face puzzled, which now had a dark shadow over her eyes and an evil sneer across her mouth. Enzoromon then took a second look at the innocent Psychemon, and suddenly the thing that possessed Ann took over Enzoromon as well.  
  
"Liar! You are a Digidestined's Digimon partner and you must be destroyed. Enzoromon, Digivolve and destroy this filth!" Ann pointed an accusing finger at Psychemon.  
  
Ann's Digivice glowed, and Enzoromon first Digivolved to Felinamon, then, when Ann's crest started glowing as well, Felinamon digivolved again to SabreFelinamon. The Ultimate-leveled Digimon unsheathed both her katanas, and used them to slice down onto the Psychemon, who was petrified with fear. The innocent Digimon died and dematerialized into tiny particles that dispersed and disappeared.  
  
"SabreFelinamon, help me set this horrible place on fire." Ann ordered. SabreFelinamon waited outside, as Ann found an oil lamp and a dry rag. Ann also picked up a box of matches, and put them in her pocket. She then headed out the cabin's door.  
  
"SabreFelinamon, destroy that cabin so it will be easier to burn." Ann ordered as she strode out to SabreFelinamon, holding the rag and the oil lamp.  
  
SabreFelinamon crossed both katanas in front of herself, and concentrated on gathering up energy for the attack.  
  
"Hyper Blade!" SabreFelinamon shouted, uncrossed her katanas in a sweeping arc, and launched an 'X' shaped beam of energy towards the cabin. The beam tore through the building, and in a matter of seconds, the building toppled into a pile of broken logs and rubble. Ann then stuffed the rag into the lamp, made sure it got soaked in the oil well enough, then lit the end of the rag with a match. She then hurled the Moltov Cocktail she just made towards the shambles that were once the cabin, and watched as the cocktail softly landed onto what was left of the thatch roof.  
  
"Arrgh! It didn't hit hard enough! SabreFelinamon, do something to the lamp so it breaks or explodes or does something so it will burst into flames!" Ann shouted in frustration.  
  
SabreFelinamon lifted one katana, pointed it at the Moltov Cocktail, and shot a narrow, blue beam at it. The beam hit with surprising accuracy, and the Moltov Cocktail exploded into flames like it was supposed to. The thatch roof provided excellent tinder, and within minutes, the ruins of the cabin were engulfed in flame.  
  
Before the cabin did become a giant flaming mass, Ann picked out a good torch-sized piece of wood by her feet, walked up to the flaming cabin, making sure not to catch fire herself, and lit the end of the piece of wood. She quickly rushed through the garden with the torch, and trailed the flaming part through the patches of garden, setting all the plants ablaze. With everything possible on fire, Ann and SabreFelinamon watched the cabin burn to ashes from afar. An evil laughter flowed from Ann's lips. SabreFelinamon soon joined, the evil sound echoed through the forest.  
  
---Digimon Analyzer--- Psychemon Rookie Data Beast Digimon Attacks: Sonic Jab and Blue Blaster He looks like Gabumon, but he's much more colorful in appearance and personality! 


	10. Strength in Shadows

There was a very long pause before Jareth spoke, practically biting off the end of each word.  
  
"What are you doing?"  
  
Kayo dropped the fish in his hand, fumbling mentally for a quick excuse. "Uh, well.you see."  
  
Jareth's cold gaze turned to Aeromon, who was bristling. "And you? Have you managed to even reach Ultimate yet?"  
  
"Currently, I'm not concerned with digivolving," Aeromon replied coolly, "since we can't even find our target."  
  
"You have got to be kidding me. One boy and his Digimon can't be that hard to find. You two are hopeless."  
  
"Hopeless?! I don't see you attempting to destroy your targets, Jareth," Kayo growled. The way he uttered Jareth's name was like he wanted to spit it out into the dirt. "Or are you and Venomon having a tough time locating them, too? What's the matter, Digidestined too strong for you to handle?"  
  
"Shut up, boy. I'm your elder and you should respect me as such." Jareth turned his back on Kayo, returning to the forest. "Time is running out. The Digidestined are drawing nearer to the peak of Infinity Mountain as we speak. We must stop them, or die trying. Do you understand?"  
  
"I don't care," Kayo shouted back at Jareth's retreating form. "Piedmon can rot in hell. I never asked to be a Dark Digidestined in the first place! As far as I'm concerned, this whole place can burn, you and everything else on it!" With that, Kayo grabbed the closest thing he could find and lobbed it at Jareth. It missed the youth's head by millimetres.  
  
"Cool it, Kayo," Aeromon said, nudging the boy in the leg. "He's not worth it."  
  
"I never wanted to be here anyways," Kayo continued muttering, kicking the dirt. "I never asked, and I never would have said yes even if they did. Why the heck did Piedmon have to choose me, anyway? Out of six billion people, it had to be me." The boy turned to his Digimon. "Why, Aeromon? Why me?"  
  
"Actually, I don't know. Maybe you've got something in you that the other six billion out there don't." Aeromon yawned and lay down beside the fire, staring into the flames. "Go to sleep, Kayo. You'll feel better in the morning. That's what I do when something bugs me."  
  
"What could possibly bug you besides and empty stomach?"  
  
"Garurumon."  
  
"Oh." Kayo stretched out, using a smooth rock nearby as a headrest. "Well, maybe you're right. If I just shut my eyes and drift off, I'll forget this whole thing by the time I wake up."  
  
* * *  
  
"Kayo.Kayo.KAYO!"  
  
The boy started up with a jolt and immediately wished he hadn't-his neck was stiff. Rubbing his eyes, Kayo gave a groggy moan.  
  
"That's the last time I try to use a rock pillow."  
  
"Kayo." Aeromon's voice was edged with urgency.  
  
"What?" That's when Kayo realized the air he was breathing had a salty tang to it. The boy got to his feet and glanced at Aeromon, who looked ready to fight, if need be. Around him, the scenery had changed. Instead of the trees leading back to the forest, there were hills of sand and an old, worn fence. Replacing the lake was a vast ocean, the water appearing pitch black. The strangest sight of all, though, was the lighthouse at the edge of the ocean, to Kayo's right-it shone pitch black out to the already dark and gloomy setting.  
  
"Any ideas to how we got here?" Kayo asked, confused.  
  
"We could've flown in our sleep for all I care, but I don't think we've actually moved," Aeromon replied, glancing down at the charred bits of wood and fish bones that had been their campsite. Kayo followed his Digimon's gaze.  
  
"I thought this place was weird in general, but I didn't think it got this weird."  
  
"It doesn't-I've never seen this place before. Digiworld's always been in colour, even though it's been strange lately." Aeromon trotted around in a circle, as if trying to get his bearings. "Besides, even the black and white places I've been to never had black light."  
  
"If you even call that stuff light," Kayo muttered, gesturing at the lighthouse. "I hate this place. It looks like someone smacked an island onto a Xerox machine and pressed 'start'."  
  
"What's a Xerox?" Aeromon asked, turning back to Kayo. The boy had a shocked expression on his face and was backing away a little, which made Aeromon even more confused. "What?"  
  
"Tell me if I'm seeing things, but turn around."  
  
Aeromon did, and leapt back a few feet, snarling. A series of dark tendrils were coming out of the ground and forming a large black cloud that had been directly behind the wolf cub. Unlike normal clouds, this one didn't drift away-instead it grew in height and seemed to solidify. Limbs grew out from the base, as did a head with two blazing red eyes and a pair of long ears. When it had finally solidified, it stood at a good ten feet or so. Kayo was scared, but he wasn't about to bolt when he didn't know where he was going, or if this thing was even as scary as it looked.  
  
"Ah, so you're here," the thing said casually in a deep voice.  
  
"Excuse me for being blunt, but what the heck are you?" He finally blurted.  
  
The thing glanced down at him with its narrowed eyes, the only features on its face, or body for that matter, visible in detail. "I am Shadowmon, made of pure darkness and destroyer of the light."  
  
"Okay, Shadowmon," Kayo continued, ignoring Aeromon's look of absolute mortification, "are you the one responsible for bringing me and by buddy to this stupid place?"  
  
"Indirectly, I am," Shadowmon answered. "However, it was your negative energy that enabled you to travel here. I have wanted to meet you for a long time."  
  
"I never wished to be here in the first place. Why the heck can't I be control of my life?" Kayo complained.  
  
"You are here because you have a power deep within you, but it remains locked because you do not have the key."  
  
"And what have you got to do with it?" Kayo asked sharply.  
  
"I can help you unlock this power in you. You cannot reach your full potential until you have done so."  
  
"Give Kayo a good reason why he should listen to you," Aeromon growled.  
  
A hint of amusement glinted in Shadowmon's eyes. "Ask him-the boy knows."  
  
* * *  
  
Kayo didn't know he'd made a big mistake until he actually saw the bike he was about to use. It was a big red bike much bigger than the one he had, and it had no training wheels. He didn't know how to ride a bike without training wheels, although it was obvious the rest of his classmates did.  
  
He watched his friends climb on their bikes and take off easily, laughing. He looked uneasily at the bicycle, still standing there and rapidly becoming the only one without a rider. Well, even if this was a road safety program, there were pedestrians. He could just join the pedestrians and pretend nothing ever happened-  
  
"Hey, Kayo, what's wrong?" One of his classmates called. "Can't ride a bike?"  
  
That did it. There was no way he was going to be tagged as the only ten year-old who couldn't ride a two-wheeler bike, training wheels off. Besides, it looked easy enough. And even if he didn't know how, he was going to learn on the spot. With grim determination he leapt onto the bike and flipped the kickstand off.and nearly fell over as the bike leaned dangerously. Okay, maybe this was going to be a little harder than he thought.  
  
Com'on, it's just a bike missing two wheels. Ride it like a bike. Kayo pushed the bike forward and barely got his feet on the pedals before the bike lurched sideways again, but he somehow managed to keep it upright. The bike swayed like a drunken animal for a few centimetres as Kayo wrestled with the handlebars, then gave up and crashed onto its side, taking the boy with it.  
  
Kayo stumbled to his feet and he righted the bike, at the same time taking a look around to see if anyone saw that undignified fall. Nobody had, much to his relief. Glaring at the bicycle, Kayo mounted it again, placing one foot solidly on the pedal and pushing off with the other. For a moment, it looked like he finally got the hand of it, and the bike cruised grudgingly forward. Then, the bike suddenly grew a mind of its own and jerked the handlebars sideways, throwing it and Kayo into a nearby ditch.  
  
The boy lay where he had fallen for a moment, tears of pain and frustration welling up in his eyes. The bike had him pinned to the ditch, grinning tauntingly back at him. Kayo was far too ashamed and angry to call for help or shove the bike off. He was the most pathetic ten year-old in existence, who couldn't even keep up with his peers. Maybe this was his destiny, to lie forgotten while others excelled.  
  
* * *  
  
"Give me a break," Aeromon said. "All this from one lousy experience with a bicycle?"  
  
"There are lots more," Kayo said softly, his eyes downcast. "Every time I try to do something, try to prove others wrong, I fail and end up even worse than before. I can't do anything well, be it school or sports. I always get picked on, and my so-called friends back at camp left me to look after the campsite while they had fun because I'm weak and pathetic."  
  
"I'm offering you an alternative to that," Shadowmon said. "I'm offering you a way to change your destiny from that of a loser.to a winner."  
  
"You have my attention," Kayo replied, looking up at the gargantuan shadow.  
  
"Are you sure this is a good choice?" Aeromon asked cautiously.  
  
"What have I got to loose?"  
  
The wolf cub paused. "Good point."  
  
Shadowmon seemed to grin, as if everything was going according to plan. "Firstly, you do have a dark Crest."  
  
"Yeah, Piedmon gave it to me," Kayo replied, pulling the medallion out from under his shirt. "The Crest of Havoc."  
  
"The Crest of Havoc holds great powers that will enable you and your Digimon to become stronger than you ever have been."  
  
"So, I can Digivolve to Ultimate?" Aeromon asked eagerly. "And kick that tin can wolf's sorry butt to kingdom come?"  
  
"Yes. However, the Crest must be activated by Kayo before he can use it, otherwise there will be no effect." Shadowmon turned to the boy. "Visualize this in your head. You're fighting your most hated rival, and you're loosing, as usual." As Shadowmon spoke, a dark haze seemed to develop around him, Kayo and Aeromon, chilling to the touch. "He has you on your knees, and there's nothing you can do to retaliate. He laughs and taunts you. What do you want to do?"  
  
Kayo's eyes were shut and his face contorting with hate. His fists balled tightly. "I want to win. I'm going to win," he muttered under his breath.  
  
"What do you want to do?" Shadowmon repeated, raising his voice. The haze grew even thicker and darker as he spoke.  
  
In his mind, Kayo saw Jareth, arms crossed, laughing cruelly. He saw Piedmon in all of his arrogance, screaming, "You pathetic little human. Pathetic. Pathetic. Pathetic." Ann appeared too, alongside Felinamon. She formed a gun with her hand, pretended to shoot him, and laughed. Kayo's anger intensified. Who were they calling pathetic? He was no weak little shrimp.not anymore.  
  
"I'm going to wipe that grin off their faces," he heard himself saying, and even he was surprised to hear his voice carrying all his anger with it. "I want to smash them to smithereens, tear them apart slowly, reduce them to a sobbing, pleading pile on the floor.!"  
  
Before he even finished is sentence, Kayo was aware of something weird. His Crest was glowing an angry red, and he could feel the power pulsing from it and into the area around him. Aeromon was now standing in front of him, and seemed to be absorbing the darkness around him and growing dramatically in size. The wolf's eyes glowed red as he continued to expand.  
  
"Excellent." Shadowmon breathed.  
  
"Aeromon Dark Digivolve to.Shimalupidramon!"  
  
In the small wolf cub's place stood a massive hound straight from the fiery pit of Hell, with well-muscled limbs and a powerful tail that ended in a spade. His fur was sleek black and his claws were crimson and hooked. Long fangs protruded from his mouth, and instead of ears, two red horns swept backwards from where the ears should have been. A row of spines ran from neck to tail, and a pair of broad dragon's wings sprouted from his shoulder blades. Kayo's jaw practically hit the ground in surprise.  
  
"Whoa.Aeromon!" The boy grinned. "My Crest did that?"  
  
"Sure looks like it," grunted Shimalupidramon in a low, menacing voice. "I'm now Shimalupidramon, and I feel like I can take on two Megas at once!"  
  
"Shimalupidramon.he is a Skull level Ultimate, and the most powerful Digimon of that rank, it seems," observed Shadowmon. "His Dark Lightning Apocalypse will definitely serve you well."  
  
The dark fog around them lifted, and both Kayo and Shimalupidramon found themselves back on the shore of Dragon Eye Lake. Shimalupidramon unfurled his large wings to their full extent.  
  
"Ah! Hop on, Kayo, let's go find that tin can of a wolf and his partner! We can't lose this fight!"  
  
"Alright, Shimalupidramon." The boy clambered up onto his Digimon's back. With a powerful leap, they were airborne, soaring above the tree line of the forest and high into the air, until everything below them looked like tiny specks. Although a little queasy, Kayo felt more confident up high in the air. For once, he felt like he could amount to something after all. He was going to make them pay, one at a time. First Matt, then Jareth and Ann, and Piedmon too. Nobody was ever going to call him a weakling again.  
  
Below, unnoticed by the two, Shadowmon stood watching calmly. The evil Digimon chuckled.  
  
"Hikayo, if only you knew just how weak you really are."  
  
* * *  
  
Kayo only felt one thing as he and Shimalupidramon scanned the ground from the skies for Matt and Gabumon-a thirst to prove he wasn't weak or pitiful as everyone thought. Shimalupidramon seemed to share the same thought. They had to end their loosing steak.somehow.  
  
Matt was playing his harmonica at the edge of the now deserted Primary Village, completely devoid of colour. Gabumon sat alongside him, staring out at the vast body of water before them. The Digimon sighed inwardly.  
  
Suddenly angry red twin beams shot at a rock just in front of it, demolishing it. Startled, Matt dropped his harmonica and jumped to his feet. Gabumon did likewise, searching the skies for the source of threat. From the sky swooped a hell hound of massive proportions, another pair of twin beams shooting from its skull collar and igniting the grass in front of the duo. Riding its back was Kayo, looking grim.  
  
"You two again! Doesn't Piedmon ever learn?" Matt shot. "We want to be left alone!"  
  
"That's no concern of mine," Kayo said. "Our orders are to destroy you, and that's what we're going to do."  
  
"Skull Beam!" Another pair of beams shot out and hit the ground, too close for comfort. Gabumon stepped between the hell hound and his partner, ready to protect Matt at all costs. Matt's digivice and crest began to shake and glow as Gabumon began Digivolving.  
  
"Gabumon, Digivolve to.Garurumon! Garurumon, Digivolve to.WereGarurumon!"  
  
WereGarurumon jumped into the air and did a roundhouse kick, which totally missed Shimalupidramon. The hell hound retaliated with another Skull Beam, which hit WereGarurumon and sent the bipedal wolf crashing to the ground. Matt ran up to his injured Digimon.  
  
"WereGarurumon!"  
  
"There can only be one wolf on this turf," Shimalupidramon growled, flaring his wings. The insides of them began to glow a deadly red. "Lightning Apocalypse!"  
  
Red bolts of plasma rained down onto the ground all around Matt and WereGarurumon, destroying trees, rocks, and anything in its path, reducing them to data fragments. WereGarurumon stood in front of Matt to protect him from the barrage and ended up taking several bolts. With a pained howl, the Ultimate crumpled to the ground. Without anything left to shield him, Matt ran towards his Digimon, shouting his name. One of the bolts hit him and with a silent scream, the boy collapsed unconscious. From his vantage point on Shimalupidramon, Kayo jolted. What-  
  
"Matt!" WereGarurumon, though badly injured, shakily got to his feet and stared at his unconscious partner, not sure if he was dead. Then, with an anguished howl, WereGarurumon turned on Shimalupidramon with renewed fury.  
  
"You hurt Matt, you stinking villain!" WereGarurumon roared. "I'll take you down yet! Wolf Claw!"  
  
The attack slammed into Shimalupidramon's face and the hell hound grunted. Shaking off the effects of the attack, Shimalupidramon growled.  
  
"With your partner down, it's only a matter of time before you join him!" Shimalupidramon darted forward, and Kayo had to hang on tighter to avoid falling off. The hell hound snapped at WereGarurumon, who just barely avoided the attack. Turning, Shimalupidramon lashed out with his thick tail, flinging WereGarurumon into a dense forest of trees. Somehow, the weakened Ultimate recovered and leapt back up, only to be smashed down again by Shimalupidramon's large paw. The hell hound meted out beating after beating, and showed no sign of stopping until his opponent was completely destroyed. Something in Kayo's mind clicked and panic settled in.  
  
"Shimalupidramon, stop! Stop! That's enough!"  
  
Shimalupidramon paid no attention, slamming his opponent to the ground again and again. WereGarurumon wheezed and kicked out at his attacker. Shimalupidramon responded by snapping down at the bipedal wolf, who rolled out of the way. Kayo kicked his mount in the side.  
  
"Quit it already, we've done enough!"  
  
"I won't stop until this wolf burns in Digital Hell!" Roared Shimalupidramon, backing a bit and preparing to launch another barrage of plasma bolts. Kayo was becoming frantic now.  
  
"Back off, Shimalupidramon! You've already beaten him! Back off!"  
  
"Lightning."  
  
WereGarurumon wasn't going to wait to be incinerated. With the last of his strength, he jumped up and landed a punch to Shimalupidramon's jaw. The attack interrupted, WereGarurumon roundhouse kicked Shimalupidramon in the chest, sending the Digimon pummelling to the ground with an almighty crash. The built up charge of Shimalupidramon's attack backfired on him, shocking both him and Kayo. Exhausted, WereGarurumon collapsed to the ground as well, shrinking into Gabumon. Shimalupidramon groaned and he, too, shrank and reverted to his Rookie form.  
  
When Kayo opened his eyes again, he found that they were in the middle of a dense forest, exactly where they had landed. Gabumon and Matt were nowhere to be seen. Kayo sat up, rubbing his head. Aeromon shook himself and stumbled to his feet.  
  
"Are you okay?" The wolf asked with all the innocence that was missing when he was Shimalupidramon. Kayo shook his head to clear it.  
  
"My head hurts. Aeromon?"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"Promise me you'll never do that again."  
  
The two slowly started walking into the forest, both groggy and worn. Finally, Aeromon spoke.  
  
"Well, I almost had WereGarurumon back there, right?"  
  
Kayo said nothing. 


	11. Arrows of Darkness and Despair

"Okay, so let me see if I've got this strait," Jareth said. "Angels will shoot arrows of Hope and Light at the loved ones of those they protect."  
  
"Yep."  
  
"And what this boiled down to, was that Angemon and Angewomon had to impale two of the Digidestined."  
  
"Yep."  
  
"And this made Agumon and Gabumon go Mega?"  
  
"Yep."  
  
"Talkative today, aren't we?" Jareth grinned sideways at the small green reptile as the two of them trudged through the forest.  
  
Venomon shrugged. "You aren't asking very elaborate questions."  
  
"Okay, well here's one for you: What do you think about us setting up a semi-permanent base of operations?"  
  
"Like a meeting place if we get separated? Or just a place to camp between attacks?" Venomon considered. "Not a bad idea. Any particular place in mind?"  
  
"The mountaintop where we met Ann would work. So would the lakeside where Kayo is now."  
  
"I'll take the lakeside."  
  
Jareth grimaced. "You sure?"  
  
"Well, I'm the only one of us that can fly, so not everyone has easy access to the mountaintop. Besides, Digimon need lots of food to fight well, and that lake's full of fish." Venomon glanced over at his human partner. "It's perfect."  
  
"Yeah, I guess you're right."  
  
"You're not upset that Kayo found it first? That he stumbled onto the perfect campsite without even trying?"  
  
"No, I'm more upset at the prospect of staying in the same place as him for more than a few minutes."  
  
"He really doesn't seem like that bad a guy. You should give him a chance."  
  
Jareth tuned out what his companion was saying. He was right, of course. It wasn't Kayo's fault he was here. And Kayo really did seem like a decent enough guy.  
  
Jareth shook his head, thinking about what he'd said earlier. 'I'm your elder, you should treat me as such....' Since when had he thought like that? Respect didn't come to someone just because they were older; it had to be earned. It was almost as if the words hadn't been his own. The voice had certainly been Jareth's, but when he replayed the scene in his mind, it sounded like someone else: a mocking, nasal voice with an attitude to match. Piedmon?  
  
"....And anyway," Venomon continued, oblivious to Jareth's silence, "it's not as if being snotty to him can get rid of him. He's here, he' one of us and that's that."  
  
Jareth sighed. "All right, all right. I'll try to be nicer to him. No promises, though."  
  
A rumbling from deeper in the forest interrupted any further conversation.  
  
"Did you hear that?"  
  
"Could anyone MISS that?" Jareth quipped.  
  
Loud, resounding THUDs began to head their way.  
  
"I think it heard us." "I think you're right."  
  
"I think those sound like very big feet."  
  
"I think we should run."  
  
Before they could move, a large, red dinosaur stepped into sight, his head nearly hidden by all the branches.  
  
"I think we took too long," Jareth said.  
  
"It's Tyranomon!" Venomon cried.  
  
"Well? Digivolve already!"  
  
"Venomon...Digivolve to....." The sound that followed wasn't the shriek of a Digivice, but rather, a loud rumbling from Venomon's midsection.  
  
Jareth stared at the small reptilian Digimon. "Don't tell me...."  
  
"Well, I haven't eaten anything for a while now...."  
  
Tyrranomon took a step forward, bending down to get a better look at the two small morsels. He glanced over Venomon, then looked forward at Jareth, who was about twice the size of his Digimon. Tyranomon leaned forward; massive jaws open, revealing two rows of razor-sharp teeth...  
  
Venomon's eyes narrowed. He lunged forward, head-butting Tyranomon in the ankle, his sharp horn sinking into the red Digimon's tender flesh.  
  
For a moment, it seemed as though Tyranomon hadn't even felt Venomon's attack. His head drew nearer to Jareth. The Dark Digidestined could smell its rancid breath, see right down the massive beast's gullet....  
  
Then the nerve impulse finally reached Tyranomon's relatively small brain, and it roared in pain. It glared balefully down at its foot, where a tiny trickle of blood leaked from a ludicrously small hole in its leg.  
  
Venomon had already darted to Jareth's side.  
  
"Come on! Let's go!"  
  
Jareth shook his head as though coming out of a daydream, then turned and ran, Venomon keeping pace.  
  
Tyranomon roared again, sending insects and small birds fying from the branches and scattering elsewhere. He stomped after them, each of his massive strides covering more than a dozen of his prey's.  
  
Then he stopped.  
  
Jareth, aware that Tyranomon had stopped chasing him due to the conspicuous absence of THUDs, turned. The large dinosaur seemed to be...dizzy?  
  
Sure enough, Tyranomon was having trouble keeping his balance. He wobbled uncertainly, and seemed to be having trouble breathing. His eyes shifted in and out of focus, and he swiped with his claws at the air in front of him, as though he were hallucinating. Finally, the massive beast fell, forcing Jareth and Venomon to retreat so as not to be flattened.  
  
Digimon and Digidestined looked over the fallen predator.  
  
"What happened to him?" Jareth asked.  
  
"It was probably just my poison taking effect," Venomon replied.  
  
"Poison?"  
  
"They don't call me Venomon for nothing," the furry lizard replied, looking smug.  
  
"So... he's...."  
  
"No, he's alive. My dosage isn't high enough to kill a Digimon that size. Not with one hit, anyway. If you like, I could stab him a few more times....."  
  
"No, leave him," Jareth said. "After all.... It wasn't his fault he was there."  
  
"What?"  
  
"He was just doing what he did. What nature...or whatever...designed him to do. We shouldn't take it personally."  
  
"So...what should we do?"  
  
"What else? What WE were designed to do.... And I think I know how."  
  
*************************************  
  
"THAT's your plan? Are you nuts?"  
  
"Yes, but that's beside the point. It worked for them, it'll work for us," Jareth said. I hope, he added mentally.  
  
"But we don't have an angel," Kayo pointed out.  
  
Jareth opened his mouth for a scathing retort, but bit it back.  
  
"That's easily fixed," he said, restraining himself. "Venomon?"  
  
Venomon stepped up eagerly, and Jareth's emerald green Digivice began to scream.  
  
"Venomon, Digivolve to....Ravemon!"  
  
"Ravemon, Digivolve to....DarkAngemon!"  
  
Ann blinked. This was the first time she or Kayo had seen Venomon in any of his higher forms. "Okay...so we've got an angel," she said. "Now what?"  
  
"Arrows." Jareth raised his Crest, and it obligingly shot forth a ray of light that coalesced into a six-foot-long spear of energy, which DarkAngemon grabbed from the air.  
  
Ann reached beneath her blouse and drew forth her own Crest, which did likewise.  
  
Kayo held his Crest for a moment, then followed suit.  
  
DarkAngemon held the spears of light, testing their weight.  
  
"Don't forget to revert to Venomon as soon as you throw them, okay?" Jareth reminded the eight-foot-tall angel.  
  
"Yeah, yeah, I got it," DarkAngemon replied. "You ready?" "Wait," Kayo said. "Are you sure this is such a--"  
  
DarkAngemon heaved the first spear; it's amber light striking Jareth directly through the crest that hung over his heart. The second struck Ann, the turquoise shaft piercing her just as the first did Jareth. The final spear shot forth at Kayo, it's crimson light flaring, and Kayo doubled over in pain as the blast knocked him back a good ten feet. Struggling to a sitting position, Kayo stared, gaping, as the Digimon companions of his fellow Dark Digidestined underwent a shocking transformation.  
  
"Venomon, Warp-Dark Digivolve to....."  
  
A wave of golden fire washed over Venomon, transforming him into Ravemon, then DarkAngemon, and finally into a large humanoid figure covered head to toe in shining silver-blue armor. Ten razor-sharp wings flashed into existence, fanning out behind him, made of the same shimmering metal as his armor. A pair of silver wings adorned the sides of his helmet, his eyes shone a striking electric blue, and a short, barbed horn emerged from his forehead. A long staff appeared in his hand, with bladed flanges at one end and a sparkling blue orb at the other.  
  
"MithrilAngemon!"  
  
"Enzoromon, Warp-Dark Digivolve to...." Arclets of blue energy flashed across Enzoromon's body, and before everyone's very eyes, she transformed into Felinamon, then Saberfelinamon, and finally into a large, four-legged beast. A pair of ragged, bat-like wings unfolded from her back, the thin membranes stretched between the brittle-looking bones. Her fur was a dark, oily-looking blue-black, and a row of short, curved spines ran down her back, starting between her eyes and ending at the stinger at the end of her curving, scorpion-like tail.  
  
"DarkTigressmon!"  
  
Jareth and Ann stared at their companion Digimon, spellbound.  
  
Kayo dragged himself to his feet. "Warp DARK Digivolve?" Kayo asked, puzzled. It seemed to him that when Gabumon went Mega, he'd just said Warp- Digivolve. "Is that right?"  
  
"Don't be jealous just because it didn't work for you," Ann said.  
  
Kayo glared daggers at her. Why HADN'T it worked for him? Aeromon was just as good as those other two!  
  
He just couldn't catch a break.  
  
*****************************************  
  
Piedmon glared through his telescope at his servants in the field. He hadn't given them permission to Digivolve to Mega! He didn't trust them with that much power!  
  
Furious, the clown-like Digimon abruptly got up from his seat and began pacing. At least it hadn't worked on the youngest one. What was his name...Kayo. That one was already beginning to show signs of fighting his control. Really, the alienation Kayo was feeling was his own fault; if he wasn't such a threat to Piedmon, then Piedmon wouldn't distrust him so, and that distrust wouldn't trickle down through his mind-control to the other two. Ironically, it was Kayo's alienation that was driving him to fight Piedmon's control. A vicious circle if ever there was one.  
  
Piedmon glanced through the telescope again. Interesting.... The new Mega forms of those two Digimon directly reflected their partner's ideas of what evil was.... To Ann, evil meant death and decay, to Jareth, it meant self- righteousness and arrogance. Piedmon smiled. What an interesting perspective this mental link gave him! If only he could gaze into Kayo's mind this easily.....  
  
***************************************  
Digimon Analyzer  
  
DarkTigressmon Mega Virus Feral Beast Digimon Attacks: Shade Claw, Plague Wing A savage shadow beast who haunts the dreams of the innocent.  
  
MithrilAngemon Mega Vaccine Divine Angel Digimon Attacks: Divine Shadow, Plasma Blast A powerful guardian who destroys all those who oppose him. 


	12. Moving in for the Kill

Ann and the newly Warp-Digivolved DarkTigressmon charged through the forest, leaving the clearing where they had met Jareth and Kayo far behind. Now that Enzoromon had reached her Mega level, nothing could stand in her way. Power rippled through her limbs with every stride, dispite their bony appearance, and she roared loudly--a roar that shook the ground.  
  
"That's right, now we can kick those Digidestined's butts for good!" Ann laughed.  
  
"It's payback time for all the times they beat us!" Agreed DarkTigressmon.  
  
The sky was no longer safe either. MithrilAngemon and Jareth made sure of that, and were surveying from their height for any sign of the Digidestined they were supposed to go after. Jareth's long hair and trenchcoat billowed behind him as he sat on MithrilAngemon's shoulder, making the two a rather intimidating sight...if only there was anyone to intimidate.  
  
"Where did they go? I'm positive they weren't that far off the last time we checked..."  
  
"You don't suppose they went up the mountain?" Asked MithrilAngemon.  
  
At this both Dark Digidestined and partner Digimon glanced upwards at the odd wireframe structure that was the remains of Spiral Mountain. Jareth adjusted his sunglasses, even though the landscape was dark and bleak enough to nullify their use.  
  
"To meet Piedmon? Are they in that big a hurry to meet their deaths?" But Jareth was frowning. "I suppose they may be."  
  
"We'd better go follow them up, then." MithrilAngemon took off for the apex of the mountain.  
  
Which left the third and neglected Dark Digidestined at the bottom of a tree. Kayo hadn't moved from the spot where DarkAngemon's red arrow shaft that was supposed to Dark Warp Digivolve Aeromon had thrown him. Aeromon looked at his partner in concern, finally resorting to shoving his nose in Kayo's face.  
  
"It happened again..." Kayo said quietly, sinking into new depths of depression.  
  
"Well this time you didn't ask to be part of this thing. And anyway, what's the big deal with Mega? I could kick Mega butt in my Ultimate form, easily! Who needs Mega anyway? After all, I beat our target to the ground, right? Kayo?"  
  
Kayo didn't reply. It seemed as if Aeromon had little memory of the last battle with Matt and Gabumon. Good for him, Kayo thought bitterly. I, on the other hand, had to see him nearly kill a kid. Even at this moment he wasn't sure if he called off Aeromon in time--was Matt really done...? Maybe he should go back and check, finish him off if need be--whoa there. Did he really just think that? The boy blinked and shook his head.  
  
"Kayo...hey, snap out of it!"  
  
Kayo looked at Aeromon's concerned wolfish face, and sighed. "Alright, I'm here. What now?"  
  
"Stop beating yourself up about this weakness thing, okay? It's really getting in the way of our mission. And I really can't stand having you mope around," the wolf cub added as an afterthought. "We'll just have to try harder, that's all."  
  
Was there something familiar about Aeromon's comment? Kayo couldn't be sure. He half-smiled, wishing he felt as cheerful as that. "Okay. Let's go...I guess."  
  
"Tai, I think we should stop for a bit and think about this," Izzy said. The Digidestined had been trekking almost continuously for what seemed like hours, if not days, and it was really taking a toll on the youngest of the group.  
  
"We're practically there, Izzy!" Tai protested. "A few more hours and we'll be flattening that oversized clown like we did the other three Dark Masters!"  
  
"Yeah, but...consider this, Tai. Piedmon's a Mega-level, and he's probably more powerful than Machinedramon was. What's more, he has those Dark Digidestined and who knows what other Digimon at his disposal. We're not at full power without the others, because we only have one Mega and four Ultimates, including Andromon, who still needs to recouperate. What's more, all our Digimon are tired and haven't had a good break since the last battle."  
  
"You're saying we should wait?"  
  
"I say we should call back all the others, expecially Matt. With everyone back together, plus the reenforcements Mimi and Joe promised, the battle will be in our favor."  
  
Tai paused and considered this. "Yeah, I guess you're right. We'll need Matt for sure."  
  
"I'll go find him, Tai," volunteered Sora. "From the air, it should be easier to see him. Besides, we need you here in case Piedmon decides to attack--at least WarGreymon could hold him off until we get back with Matt."  
  
"I'll go too!" T.K. piped up.  
  
"No, T.K., you're staying," Tai said firmly. "It's too dangerous!"  
  
"I want to go find my brother! Please, Tai?"  
  
"He'll be safe between me and Patamon," Sora reasoned. Tai shrugged with reluctance--his already small group was splitting up even more. How could he make sure all his friends made it out of this if they kept wandering off? Agumon seemed to sense Tai's internal dilemma and laid his hand on Tai's arm.  
  
"They'll be okay, Tai. Biyomon and Patamon will protect them."  
  
"Oh, okay...just get back as soon as you can, okay?"  
  
"Don't worry, Tai," smiled T.K. "We'll be back before you know it!"  
  
Both Patamon and Biyomon digivolved to their Champion forms. T.K. and Sora held onto Birdramon's legs as she took off from the ground, Angemon close behind. The three remaining Digidestined waved them goodbye in a rather subdued manner.  
  
"Be safe, you guys!" Kari called to them as they dissapeared into the horizon.  
  
Piedmon almost cackled as he looked through his telescope. The fools! Broken into nice small chunks like that, they were prime pickings for him and his minions. Jareth was already on his way towards Spiral Mountain and would undoubtedly cross paths with the two Digidestined that left. Ann was closing in on Joe and Mimi, who were making very slow progress up the other side of the mountain. As unreliable as Kayo had been, he seemed to have been able to dispatch the stronger Digidestined pair--Piedmon had not been able to locate Matt or Gabumon since the last battle with Aeromon's admittedly impressive conduct. If only Kayo hadn't held him back. Currently the last two were too far away from Spiral Mountain to make it in time, but Piedmon, to be truthful, wasn't all that fussed. The remaing three Digidestined he would deal with personally...but it would still be wise to send out a lackey to soften them up first.  
  
"LadyDevimon, why don't you give our visitors a warm welcome," Piedmon sneered, addresing the last of his stronger minions. LadyDevimon smiled deviously from the shadows behind his shoulder and chuckled.  
  
"Certainly."  
  
Joe, Mimi, and their ragtag army of allies found themselves crossing what was formerly Primary Garden. The Digimon nurserly was grey and forlorn, devoid of color and of the playful laughter of baby Digimon.  
  
"I hope they're all alright," Mimi sighed, looking sadly at the empty stone cribs and the grey unmoving eggs.  
  
"Once we defeat Piedmon, everything's bound to be back to normal," said Ogremon confidently. Behind him, several Gekomon nodded.  
  
Joe checked his stride suddenly, almost causing Mimi, Palmon and everyone else to run smack into him. Gomamon had stopped too, and seemed to be concentrating on something far away. The answer to this strange behavior was soon answered as a faint whisper of song floated through the stagnant air--a familiar song, somehow, played on an equally familiar instrument.  
  
"Matt!" Both Joe and Mimi yelped at once, then set off at full steam towards the music. Their sprint led them to the shore with an odd, swan-shaped boat, and a small figure playing a forlorn melody on a harmonica. No, too small to be Matt. Joe and Mimi stopped, slightly dissapointed. No, it wasn't Matt at all. It was Elecmon. But the harmonica the Digimon was playing such a mornful tune on was definately Matt's.  
  
"Elecmon?" Joe asked. The former caretaker of Primary Village stopped playing and looked up at Joe with forlorn eyes.  
  
"Oh, hello there. How's everything?"  
  
"We were just wondering where you got that harmonica," Palmon said. Elecmon grunted.  
  
"This? It was just lying around here. I can tell you the whole area was smoking when I found it, like something had gone off. Not that anything matters anymore."  
  
"It may matter. Did you see anyone come by this place?" Joe pressed on. Elecmon's ears perked up somewhat.  
  
"As a matter of fact...not too long ago there was a pretty nasty fight around here. I'm not sure who won, I was keeping well out of the way...you know. But when I went to look, there was this kid and a Digimon who took a boat across the lake."  
  
"It sounds like Matt," Gomamon said when Elecmon was done talking.  
  
"It also sounds like he met one of those Dark Digidestined," Ogremon growled.  
  
"It won't hurt to try looking," Joe decided.  
  
Mimi knelt down so she was face-to-face with Elecmon. "Thanks, Elecmon. Hey, do you want to join us?"  
  
"Where're you going?"  
  
"We're gathering Digimon from all over File Island to fight Piedmon."  
  
"Piedmon! You mean one of the Dark Masters? You must be crazy to try...but then, it's better than sitting around and moping..." a look of determination crossed Elecmon's face. "Okay, count me in!"  
  
"Great! Now, let's go find Matt."  
  
Joe shook his head. "No. I'll go find Matt. You guys go on ahead."  
  
Mimi was confused, as was Palmon and the rest of the army. "Why?"  
  
"Matt left us so he could go find himself. I've just realized I have no idea who I am either. I need to find out what my place is as one of the Digidestined. It's something I have to do, and I have to do it by myself."  
  
"Okay, Joe...good luck," Mimi sighed, as she and the Digimon army left Joe and Gomamon to cross the lake alone on the remaining swan boat, dissapearing into the mist.  
  
"Uh-oh," muttered Sora, loud enough for T.K. to hear her over the wind. Their Digimon tensed as well, as a large black splotch barrelled their way. Neither had to say anything to agree that it could only be the advance of one of the Dark Digidestined, but there was still time to manuver away from it...  
  
"Sora, T.K, you go on with Angemon," said Birdramon. "I'll hold off this creep."  
  
"It'll be better if we're all fighting," argued Sora.  
  
"You two need to get to safety first," Angemon countered, holding T.K. in his arms. "These things can get very ugly."  
  
Birdramon digivolved to Garudamon with the help of Sora's crest as Angemon bore the two children away to the safety of the foliage below. At the same time, MithrilAngemon and Jareth arrived on the scene, ready to fight. Garudamon narrowed her eyes.  
  
"Wing Blade!" She cried, shooting a red light into the sky above her, which formed into a bird and dove straight at MithrilAngemon. The dark angel dodged the attack easily despite his size, and laughed.  
  
"Come now, do you really think you stand a chance against me?" MithrilAngemon was about to launch an attack against the giant bird when he was knocked sideways by a bright blast which was more annoying than functional. He turned--Angemon had entered the fray.  
  
"Back for more, holy boy?"  
  
Jareth smacked his forehead upon hearing his partner's taunt. 'Holy boy'?! Angemon replied with a frown and wound his fist back. Garudamon charged up for another attack.  
  
"Hand of Fate!"  
  
"Wing Blade!"  
  
MithrilAngemon dodged both attacks, and launched his own, firing gold plasma shots at Garudamon with an open palm. The Digimon shrieked as the shots hit, and fell to the ground with a tree-shaking thud. MithrilAngemon closed in for the kill, but was repelled by Angemon, who struck the dark angel's forehead with the butt of his staff and followed up with another Hand of Fate. Temporarily blinded, MithrilAngemon swung his own staff at Angemon, missing and giving the Champion level time to fire off another Hand of Fate. The repeated barrage was beginning to have an effect on the massive MithrilAngemon, since he was adverse to the power of light. Angemon knew it, and closed in for the final blow.  
  
MithrilAngemon raised his staff in the air, conjuring a ball of shadow at its end. Angemon hesitated, glancing back at the Digidestined below, who were attending to a downed Biyomon. There was no way he could take on this monstrosity alone, and all he needed to do was make sure T.K. and Sora could escape so they could find Matt...  
  
"Divine Shadow!" Roared MithrilAngemon, and a concussion wave of darkness burst from the dark pulsing orb on his staff. Angemon swung his staff in front of him like a propeller, using the move that had saved him from many of VenoMyotismon's blasts to dissipate a good deal of the force headed for him, and simultaneously launched a last Hand of Fate directly at the source.  
  
The resulting blast was strange enough without having to describe it. The pulsing orb exploded into alternating waves of light and darkness, blinding Jareth and MithrilAngemon. By the time their surroundings had faded back to its natural grey tones, Angemon was nowhere to be seen. MithrilAngemon scoffed.  
  
"Where'd the cowards go? I'm not finished with them yet!"  
  
Jareth stopped him with a few taps on his Digimon's helmet. "Let them go. They're headed where we last left Kayo anyway. He can keep them busy while we hit the main team, with WarGreymon. They're the priority."  
  
"Oh, right..."  
  
"Besides," added Jareth in a sarcastic tone, "Piedmon couldn't handle them all on his own despite him being 'the strongest Digimon--'"  
  
"I HEARD that," echoed a loud nasal voice that caused both Jareth and MithrilAngemon to start badly. Piedmon materialized in mid-air in front of them, arms crossed and sneering unplesantly. Jareth's eyes narrowed.  
  
"I don't remember giving you permission to Digivolve your partners to Mega," Piedmon continued.  
  
"I don't recall you having anything against that," Jareth shot back. "Besides, how are we supposed to defend you--" his tone changed adruptly again, "--oh Powerful and Almighty Piedmon, if we don't have the firepower?"  
  
Piedmon scowled. This human, though sufficiently suppressed with his mind control, had an agonizing tendency to mouth off and exactly the wrong times. Was the girl the only one he didn't have problems with? The clown raised his hand.  
  
"Clown Trick!"  
  
Jareth was blasted off MithrilAngemon's shoulder by the attack, but his partner managed to catch him with a large, armored hand. Jareth landed with a thud, head spinning and sunglasses asknew. Piedmon smirked.  
  
"Fine. Now get back to Infinity Mountain. Our guests are waiting for their final performance..." with a cackle, Piedmon faded from sight. Jareth frowned as he replaced his sunglasses, feeling as if something was vaugely wrong but couldn't place just what, because of the headache Piedmon had given him.  
  
"Jareth, you alright?" MithrilAngemon asked. Jareth nodded.  
  
"I'll be fine...we better get going."  
  
Centarumon and Ogremon yanked a shocked Mimi backwards, so that the gristly, half-decayed paw swiping at her missed and left deep furrows in the ground with its claws. Lilymon flew up and unleashed her flower cannon right at DarkTigressmon's head, stunning the Mega long enough for the rest of the Digimon army to attack. Astride the festering Digimon, Ann scowled, sensing the tables were turning on her. She'd only expected those two misfits and the ugly green thug, not an entire army of Champion and Rookie levels. Alone, she could pick them off easily, but it seemed as if they insisted on co-ordinate themselves in such a way that it was nearly impossible.  
  
"Ann, snap out of it!" Roared DarkTigressmon as she shook off the remaining attacks and flew higher to avoid the rest. "I can take these little creeps!"  
  
"It's impossible!" Ann cried, almost hysterical. "We never thought there would be so many!"  
  
"There's only one Ultimate in the bunch. Once I'm done with her, the rest are bug bait!"  
  
Ann held on tight as DarkTigressmon swerved to avoid another series of projectiles. "But--"  
  
"Last time I was too weak to finish them off. The fight before that, those other inept Dark Digidestined messed me up. But not this time! This time, I'll get them once and for all!"  
  
Ann blinked. Had she heard something like that before? It felt familiar...like that sentance was a part of her somehow...  
  
At this moment, Mimi's Digivice let out a shrill whistle and shot forth a beam of light from its screen, which zapped Ann's crest. Ann screamed and writhed atop her mount, who roared in confusion or anger.  
  
"What did you do to Ann?! I'll get you for that!"  
  
But at the same time, a dark haze seemed to be lifting off of the Dark Digidestined to hover over her back. DarkTigressmon halted her assault, feeling a strange crawling sensation under her fur. Down below, everyone, even Mimi, stared in shock.  
  
Then DarkTigressmon gave a violent heave and broke off the connecting beam of light with a roar. The Digivice's screeeching died out, and all was dark again. Ann collapsed on DarkTigressmon's back, seemingly unconcious. Her partner Digimon glared at the assembled group, then retreated into the trees. Silence followed in their wake.  
  
"What was that?!" Centarumon demanded.  
  
"It was just like the time we freed Leomon from Devimon's Black Gears..." Mimi muttered, wide-eyed.  
  
"Then maybe they ARE controlled by Piedmon," said Lilymon, landing in front of Mimi. "Now we know how to free them from Piedmon's spell! We've got to go tell the others."  
  
"But what about Joe and Matt?"  
  
"Those guys are tough," grunted Ogremon. "They'll make it through."  
  
Elsewhere, Ann came to, lying on something rather oily and ragged, like a carpet that hadn't been washed in a long time. She groaned and shook her head, which was throbbing rather painfully.  
  
"Ann? Are you okay?" DarkTigressmon asked, turning her head to look at Ann, who was still resting on her back. The Digimon seemed genuinely concerned. Ann nodded groggily.  
  
"I've been worse...but what was that?"  
  
"No idea. But it took a lot out of you...the cowards. If they want a fight, they should take it up with me, and not mess with my partner." DarkTigressmon hissed angrily at the memory, but Ann wasn't listening. She was staring at her tag and crest with a faint feeling of confusion. A hairline crack had appeared across it, splitting the star from the moon with a line of clear blue, breaking the solid black. What did that mean? 


End file.
